


Fool For You

by CLGM (orphan_account)



Series: Long-Assed Attack on Titan One shots [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Cheesy, Cliche, Disney Movies, EXCITING, Fluff, I don't expect anyone to read this piece of shit, I made my own chatacter, Love, M/M, They're pranking each other and they fall in love and cheesy shit like that, and he's Erwin's son, and it ends on a sad note, and paid a kid to do dirty work, his name is tiegan, i can't come up with a summary, made by a fourteen year old girl who doesn't know anything, mariachi bands, much wow, mulan - Freeform, phone pranks, pocahontas - Freeform, rainbow windshield, such amaze, thats it, they also hijack each other's phones, this is long af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-08 17:58:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 40,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4314852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/CLGM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the introduction of an asshole that goes by the name of Levi, Eren's monotonous life in Sina will no longer be the same...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fool For You

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I know this is long af, but I only wrote this to ease back into writing. This took me six hours to edit, and I'm still 100% sure that I missed something. I also made a character, but don't worry. He perfectly fits in the story. Trust me.
> 
> update: I never thought that my fic would surpass 200 hits thank you oh my god. Also, I apologize about the summary ;-; I tried my best....

Eren swaggers into the bar with his bowl-cut-hairstyled friend, Armin. His blue eyes shines distinctly this fine night, but the visit isn't for leisurely reasons, or at least, reasons meant for Eren. Armin's co-worker is celebrating her birthday today and the blonde wanted his friend to tag along. Her name is Sasha and she has an absurd obsession over food. 

The bar is currently empty except for the small group of jovial people clumped together in one side of the bar and a man sitting on a stool. Laughter can be heard and relaxing songs play in the background. Conveniently, Eren is in the mood for Bob Marley and they were playing just that. 

Armin immediately knows where to go. He heads to the small group of people. They all pause from their laughter to welcome him.

"Hey there," one says. 

His facial features possess an uncanny resemblance to a horse. Not only that, but he also emits an air that says he's down to fight anybody at any given moment. Eren can tell by the dangerous stare the man is giving him, and he knows to stay at a safe distance from him. 

"Thanks for coming," another one says, pausing from eating her salty fries. 

Her hair is pulled up into a ponytail. 

The blonde turns around to face his friend.

"This isn't as scary as I made it out to be. If you really want, you can leave," Armin says. 

"Do you think you're going to get drunk?" Eren asks. 

Armin shakes his head. 

"Do you think you can handle yourself when you do get drunk?" 

Looking at his shoes, he sheepishly shakes his head. 

"Ok, then I'm staying here. I'm gonna sit on one of the stools with that guy over there," Eren says. 

Eren had gotten used to Mikasa treating him like a newborn baby, so the trait was somewhat passed down to Eren. When it comes to Armin and drinking, Eren's motherly instincts kick in with full blown force. 

Armin's wide blue eyes are regretful and sorry. The blonde pinches Eren's jacket to keep him from leaving. His friend turns around to face him. 

"You know, you can just eat with us. It's perfectly fine," Armin says. 

Behind him, Sasha nods with a fry between her lips. 

Eren looks over to the table. 

There are nine people seated and five other people pulled a chair over to the table. There's a blonde one who looks like he was the captain of the football team back in his high school. Beside him is a tall fellow, shy and quiet, possibly monikered as "gentle giant." Both appear to be somewhat responsible individuals. A blonde woman sits between the two. Eren isn't so sure about her, but she looks unhappy being in this setting so Eren knows to avoid her as well. 

Right across the birthday girl, presumably the ponytailed brunette, is the horseface, which would be one of the consequences to sitting with them. Eren is almost offended by his not-so-secretive glaring because he hasn't done anything in the minute that they've met. Better yet, they haven't even exchanged names. The freckled gentleman, who sits beside him, appears to be a good friend and would most likely be there to prevent an all out brawl from occurring. 

Eren assumes that the bald one beside the birthday girl is the reckless one, the same person to get everybody drinking and acting crazy. The green-eyed man also assumes that the brunette and the kinder-looking blonde are dating, considering the fact that they're making lovey-dovey faces at each other. 

He has been staring at the entire group for too long. Now, their attention is focused towards him. The nine different pairs of eyes share the same questioning look, with another one looking to fight. 

"Ahem, sorry. Yea, I'm just gonna sit over there and have myself a drink," Eren says, coming back to the conversation he's having with Armin. 

His blonde friend can also sense the awkward moment that just happened. Armin can tell that Eren's process of choosing words is more like walking on eggshells. He's afraid of saying something that could make the situation worse. As Armin waits, he realizes that Eren is urging him to say something. 

"Alright. Good. Thanks for taking me here," the blonde finally says, dismissing Eren and setting him free from any more social interactions.

Eren is a newborn calf at these types of environments, stumbling and eventually falling - meaning that he's a crappy people person and talking to them drains his energy. Especially after working for the entire day, the fact is clearly spelled out that he's currently too unfit to sit with a group. Armin is aware of Eren's introvert nature, but it's difficult for him to completely grasp. 

Eren sits two bar stools away from the man. He appears to be just as tired as he is. His eyes have bags that are too heavy for him to carry and his mouth holds a grimace deeper than Mariana Trench. Eren looks elsewhere, not wanting to catch the man's attention with his staring. It's always his staring that gets him into trouble. 

A smiling bartender tends to him, asking for Eren's order.  
Glad that he's gotten away from the group, Eren asks for a Spritzer and the bartender easily prepares the drink. The brunette watches as the bartender slides the finished product in front of him, a sparkling glass complemented with lime. Eren takes it in his hand and he sips from it. 

As the young man enjoys his drink, he can't help but stare at the individual beside him once again. Even with his petit stature, he's hunched over the counter with both elbows atop. His head is angled downwards so that his jet-black hair is covering his face. Eren wonders, 'What's up with him?'

The man fixes his posture so that he's sitting straight and his head is no longer looking down. He looks at Eren and Eren immediately turns away, hoping that he was quick enough to go unnoticed. 

"You know, just because you looked away doesn't change the fact that you were staring at me, you little shit," the man says with a deeper voice than Eren expected. 

The last part of the statement completely catches Eren off guard. With the addition of the little nickname, the incident is now pinned to his mental billboard, out there to constantly remind him. 

At first, he's too surprised to form a reaction, but after fading out of that stage, Eren angrily faces him with furrowed eyebrows and a heavily disturbed expression. 

"That last part was totally unnecessary," Eren chastises. 

The brunette knows that he's not a little shit. At least he isn't living in the basement like his parents feared him to be. He's a working man with his own house, his own job, and his own life. Little shit is not the word to describe a man that has his life together, especially a man with an ego that's as delicate as Eren Jaeger's. 

The man shrugs casually and looks back into his drink. 

"I mean, I'm only staring at you because you're carrying yourself like that in a public place," Eren continues. 

Now, he's just picking a fight. Eren knows that he should drop it like he's taught himself to do, but he can't stop his anger from flaring and manifesting his actions. 

"Spritzer's for the weak," the man says, another unexpected comment. 

"Yeah, well I don't need to get drunk while I'm watching over my friend. I wouldn't call that something weak either. Stop making assumptions," Eren hotly responds, reprimanding himself for his inability to drop the topic. His face is an embarrassing shade of red and an obvious clue that he's angered. 

"Jeez. I was just kidding. Who am I to judge you on your life choices? You're no fun," the man teases. 

His smug expression tells Eren that he's only saying what he said to get a reaction out of it. Eren calms himself down before he allows his mouth to open, cautiously picking out the words he wants to say. He wants to ignore the man and leave his irritating ass by himself, but his stubbornness turns him into a fool. It would've been smarter to not give off a reaction at all. 

"I'm not here to have fun. I'm here to watch over my friend," Eren answers, clinging on to the final droplets of patience and self control he has. 

"And you're watching over him from here? You could be sitting with them, you know. I could already tell that you're your friend's guardian angel, which is why I said you're no fun," he says. 

"Whatever," Eren completely turns away from the man, fuming and red. It's unfair how the stranger can maintain a straight face and keep himself calm while Eren can barely think up of come-backs that are as effective as his. 

*

Armin lied, and Eren was right. Normally, it's the blonde that gets the best of Eren, but when it comes to drinking and social gatherings with friends, Armin's experiences equates to a newborn's and he constantly needs Eren's supervision. Now, his friend is a wobbling mess, too unstable to keep himself up. The two pay their share of the meal and walk out of the bar with Armin's arm draping over Eren's shoulder. Before they arrived, the sky was already dark, but the two never figured that the sky could get any darker. 

Out of the entire group, they're the final two to leave the place. Eren can spot the the nine other individuals in the parking lot cramming into Annie's van. While he was in the bar, he learned their names after overhearing the entire event. In the end, the grumpy blonde was the one left who wasn't intoxicated. 

Eren gags. His friend smells of alcohol just like the group he spent time with. Disgusting. 

"Armin, can you keep your smelly breath away from my face?" The friend requests. 

"O...k..." The struggle to answer is almost as much as the struggle to walk. 

His friend slowly turns his head away only to have it bob back to face Eren once again. 

"Have you ever even been drunk before?" Eren asks. 

The brunette knows that his friend spends a majority of his time studying the hell out of his life for medical school, but he's hardly updated about Armin's experiences when he's not studying. His friend no longer needs that pampering he used to receive. 

"Eren, I can see the Leo constellation," Armin mutters, slowly tracing stars in the sky with his index finger. Eren doesn't exactly know what he's talking about, but he knows one thing for sure. 

"Armin, you don't know crack-shit about astronomy," he says. 

"But I swear, I can see it," Armin insists. 

Eren rolls his eyes as he trudges across the parking lot. His friend is one of those people that appear to weigh as light as a feather, but the blonde hardly keeps himself in shape and approximately weighs as much as six elephants. Eren's misery finally ends when he places his friend in the backseat of his car. Since the blonde has dozed off by then, he's also required to buckle his seatbelt up. 

Eren finally drives away from the cursed bar, hoping to never return again. 

*

It's been a long, long day and the children in the daycare were more annoying than they normally were. Eren doesn't know the exact reason why, but it was more frustrating when he had to continue smiling at them and sit on the top that was about to blow open. Eren heaves a sigh when he shuts the door to his car. He's completely drained, mentally singing hallelujahs to himself that the day is finally over. 

'Some alcohol would be good right now. I need something to just drown myself into.' 

Eren nods at his own suggestion and drives to wherever, deciding to settle on the first bar he finds. It isn't the smartest of ideas, but the treatment he received from those children weren't the best either. Eren doesn't know how his way of thinking is logical at all, but he goes along with it nonetheless. 

So he drives around the city for twenty minutes, going around in circles at first. The brunette arrives in the same bar he went to last week, when Armin celebrated his friend's birthday. Eren parks his car and walks right inside. The setting is just the same as before, empty with the exception of the bartender and the same rude man he encountered before. 

Eren rolls his eyes. Just his luck. 

The brunette sits several bar stools away from the man, not making the mistake of sitting close to him once again. With hopes of not being recognized, he looks on the opposite direction so that only the back of his head can be seen. He could always sit at one of the tables, but he doesn't want to see the empty chairs surrounding him. It'll only prove how friendless he is. 

It's a different bartender this time, and Eren noticed that she was talking with the grumpy man before he entered the bar. She looks older than the brunette, with glasses and a quirky smile. The woman also appears to be more friendlier. 

When she walks over, Eren reads "Hanji" on the name tag. 

She leans towards the counter so that she's only several inches from the young man. The woman retains her smile. 

"Hey there, sweetheart. What would you like?" She causally asks. 

"Jack Daniels," Eren answers, mesmerized with her dark brown eyes. The color is so deep, it can be mistaken for the black of night. Her eyes are one of the most beautiful Eren has ever seen. 

She turns around to pour the drink in the glass. 

Just as Eren checks on his phone, she slides the drink in front of him. He smiles, pays for the cost, and gazes at the bright little screen once again. He briefly scrolls through his tumblr dashboard before someone interrupts his tumblr surfing. 

"Oh, it's you," a familiar voice says. 

When Eren looks up, he meets the steely color of the man's sharp eyes. The handsome face catches him by surprise and it steals all the air left in his lungs. Eren doesn't know how to react at first since the man is more stunning than he remembers, but eventually, he wipes the silly look off of his face and turns it into a distasteful frown. 

"If you're going to address me like that then you shouldn't have sat beside me," Eren responds. He attempted to make his voice sound as cold as the ice in his drink, but he miserably fails. 

The stranger rolls his eyes and sets an elbow on the counter, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. He sighs as Eren watches him. Even his profile is deliciously good-looking. The young man isn't sure if he's ever met anybody more attractive. 

Eren shakes the thoughts out of his head. Who does the man think he is? If he thinks he's being funny, Eren knows that he's certainly not as funny as he likes to think he is. 

"You're really no fun. What do you do with your life? Do you just sit around all day and watch porn or something?" He asks.

Eren is appalled by the man's crass use of language. He figures that he doesn't need to deal with his disrespect so he takes his cold drink in his hand and gets up to leave, but just as he goes, the man calls out for him. 

"Wait, Jesus Christ. There's this think called joking around. You're doing it entirely wrong. You're not supposed to take any of it seriously," the man says. 

Eren rolls his eyes. 

"I came here to relax, not to be insulted by some midget who thinks it's perfectly fine being an asshole." 

The man doesn't respond and when Eren turns around to catch a glimpse of his reaction, he figured that the midget comment was taking things a step too far. Mr. Stranger's eyes take on a different kind of grey, the kind of grey that people can see in the harshest of storms. Frigid air brushes upon Eren's neck and he feels suffocated by the atmosphere that's forming in the spaces between them. It was just one simple comment. Eren can't believe how sensitive the man is. Suddenly, it all disappears when he clears his throat and puts his hands to the air. 

"Alright. I see your point. Just don't make any more jabs at my height, will ya? Let's start off in another clean page. My name is Levi. What's yours?" He asks. 

Eren sits back down on his seat and he places his drink on the counter, another wet circle forming on the mahogany. 

"Eren. Why are you suddenly so friendly?" Eren questions, not being so subtle about his dislike towards the man. 

"And why are you asking so many questions?" 

"Because you're a real asshat, that's what," Eren argues. 

"You're not putting up a very good argument right now," Levi responds. 

"Whatever."

Eren pulls his phone out so that he can ignore any more hideous discussions with the man. He finds the comfort of the blue screen and the humorous posts that graces his dashboard once again. Eren holds phone around his leg so that Levi wouldn't pry in his personal business. 

Eventually, the message is successfully conveyed and Levi transfers to a different barstool, one further away from Eren. The bartender returns behind the counter to talk to the irritating stranger. Good, Eren thinks. Now there's someone keeping Levi from annoying him any further. 

The young man eventually leaves the bar after drinking his glass. He knows that he should have drank more, or at least ordered a meal on top of the Jack Daniels. Geez, if it weren't for his indomitable stubbornness and his pride, he would consider the notion of agreeing to Levi's statement - that he's no fun. Eren knows that somewhere beneath his layers, he possesses some fun within. It all depends on the situation he's in. 

Eren grumpily stuffs his hands in his pockets as he trudged across the parking lot. He looks back at the bar, through the clear doors, and to the counter, where Levi is having a good time with Hanji, the bartender. Telling from the body movements, Levi is doubling back in laughter and Hanji is laughing along. He almost feels envious of the woman, but the sort of feeling is too ridiculous for him to even think about. 

The young man accidentally makes eye contact with Hanji, and she smiles before waving goodbye. Before he feels the tinge of obligation to wave back, he turns around and walks faster than ever before, erasing his painfully sour interaction. 

He quickly stuffs himself inside his car, which is one of the few cars in the parking lot, and he drives away. Eren has decided. He will never head back to that bar just as long as Levi will be there. It isn't even that bad. It's just the fact that an irritating man like him is there to bother him. 

*

Eren is on a winning streak for the entire month, and as in winning, the meaning that's truly implied is 'losing' - mainly because he's winning at losing. Besides, working in the daycare is already a losing situation for him, no matter what day it is. He knows he should choose a different job soon, but he doesn't have the guts to quit now that he's finally stable for the first time in his life and he's afraid of losing what he's built for himself. Eren doesn't know which part in his right mind decided to choose a kind of job that dealt with children, but here he is. 

In the year that he's worked in the place, he's gotten himself acquainted with several parents. He knows of this one guy, Erwin. He's a single father who works for the government and he's special because everybody in the in the building, ladies and men alike, are head-over-heels in love with him. And Eren can see why. With a well-proportioned and built body, bright blue eyes, blonde hair, and a dashing smile, who's panties wouldn't drop at the sight of of such an attractive man? 

Either way, he's always the last person to pick up their child in the afternoon, and Eren's particularly prissy mood is mainly due to the man's delay. 

Eren hears the door open and bells chime. He sighs and turns around to greet the man. 

"Erwin, you're killing me here...you're not Erwin..."

The young man's jaw drops as his eyes land on the short-statured, yet unmistakably familiar, individual. 

"Yeah, hey there Eren. Didn't think I would meet you again like this," says Levi, as if it's no big deal at all. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Eren asks, immediately on the defense. 

The man is sweaty, as if he's freshly walked out of the gym. He also reeks of an awful stench and it takes every ounce of Eren's self control to keep himself from punching his nose.

"Watch your language. You're the one setting the example for the children here. And yeah, hello to you too. Please make this quick. I need to shower as soon as possible." 

"Why are you here?" Eren presses. 

"I'm here to pick this damn brat. You know him. It's Erwin's kid," he finally responds. "Also, he said sorry for not telling you I was picking his son up. I'm registered as one of his other guardians." 

"Ok, great. Lemme just check up on that."

Eren opens up a drawer and pulls out a folder containing all of the emergency contact lists for "S". After checking upon Tiegan, he figures that what Levi said is true. 

"Ackerman?" Eren makes sure. 

"Yep. Levi Ackerman." He answers. 

"Alright. Tiegan is playing outside. You can just pick him up over there."

Eren points at the door on the other side of the room. 

"You know, you should be watching over him instead of sitting out here," Levi chastises. 

A burning red surges to Eren's cheeks and to the tips of his ears. He can't believe what he's hearing right now. It's the very little things that gets Eren fuming, and that would include another person telling him how to do his job. 

"Who does he think he is? He needs to consider his place in this world, whoever Levi Ackerman is." Are the kind of thoughts running through the young man's head. 

He decides to let his anger go. Levi is not worth it. 

"I'm told to watch for people coming in the building. Tiegan doesn't need my supervision. He's six years old and I've seen him with other children. The kid is more than capable of taking care of himself, especially since he's like the leader in his group of friends," Eren defends. 

"I'm not very experienced with kids nor have I ever been to a daycare before, but I think it's safer if the child is constantly watched over," Levi argues.

"If you constantly watch over them, then they're not going to learn anything." 

The man shakes his head before walking towards the door. Before he steps out, he turns around to say, "Alright. Do whatever you want. This is your job, not mine." 

The young man crosses his arms and forms a hideous grimace with his lips.

"Levi Ackerman, how the hell do I keep running into you?" Eren asks once he's sure that the man is gone. 

If he's completely honest with himself - which is a low possibility because there's not a single honest bone in his body - then he would admit that he somewhat enjoyed arguing with him. If he'd look at it in a different perspective, it could almost be considered as flirting-

"Nope, nope, nope. We're not even going there," Eren says out loud, just in time for Levi to hear. 

He holds the kid in one hand as they're walking back inside the building. Levi is not exactly the kind of man to deal with children and the sight of him with wide-eyed Tiegan is quite unique. Eren feels that if he knew Levi a little better, then he would come up with something snarky to say about him holding hands with a kid. 

Levi raises an eyebrow at Eren, who has been staring at him for too long. 

"Who were you talking to?" He asks.

The brunette's mind draws a straight line and once again, Levi's question colors Eren's cheeks with the a furious red.

"I...uh....I was.."

"Tiegan, you should stay away from this man. See how he was suspiciously talking to himself earlier? This means he eats children at night," Levi says, pointing at Eren.

"What? No! What the hell are you talking about? I don't even!" 

Eren's eyes widen with humiliation and his blush deepens. A slight smirk cracks through Levi's cheeks, which is unexpected since it comes from a man who exclusively expresses emotions that are of a robot's. How could Levi easily lie to a child like that? Suddenly, Eren has to hold back this urge to wrap his hands around his sweet neck and choke the man. 

"Eren, is that true? Do you eat children at night?" 

Poor Tiegan's eyes widen even more. Eren can't stand looking at those powdery baby blues. It's a color that's so profound, it's as if the kid is cutting straight through Eren's soul. 

"I..I swear, I do not eat children at night. Levi is just lying to make me look bad," Eren attempts to explain, but it's fruitless. Levi's got the kid wrapped around his finger. 

"Yea right. That's only something a person who eats children would say. Let's go Tiegan. I can't stand to look at this trash any longer." 

Levi winks as he pulls Tiegan away, leaving Eren's jaw on the floor. Never has Eren seen such a look on a kid's face before. It showcases all shades of betrayal and horror. Eren opens his mouth to further defend himself, but his mind is unable to create words. Before long, they walk through the door and no words are exchanged between the three, only the haunting stare of the fooled Tiegan. 

In the next day, Tiegan is dropped off of daycare. His behavior around Eren is perfectly normal, as if nothing ever happened. The kid even says hi to him without running away. When Eren asks if the young kid truly believed that he ate children at night, Tiegan shrugs and says that he didn't. 

"Uncle Levi told me to act like I did just to mess with you," he answers, giggling at what had taken place yesterday afternoon. "Wasn't I a greatactor? I think I got you good." 

The man's eyes are wide with shock and his jaw finds it's way on the floor once again. Those two little misfits! Is Levi a man with the mentality of a pre-schooler? Because that's what he's slowly starting to seem like. Eren's astonishment quickly transforms into rage and vengeance.

Slowly sucking in air, and letting it out, he clenches is patience in his fists, and he squeezes out an unexpectedly calm question,"Is he picking you up again today?" 

"Yeah, why?" 

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to know," Eren says before adding. "And you're a fantastic actor, too skilled for your own good." 

Tiegan giggles as he runs off with his friends, who had been pulling at his shirt sleeves while they were having their conversation. 

"Wow, you get along with Tiegan pretty well. I think you're his favorite caretaker."

When Eren turns around, he meets the eyes of Petra Ral. She's been working in the daycare for several years now, and she's highly respected between the other staff members. Unlike Eren, she's popular with all the children and they would crowd around her whenever she comes by - not that this is a popularity competition or anything. She's also a lovely woman with a petite figure and large, stunning brown eyes. Eren finds her quite attractive. 

"I guess so. Hey, what do you know about Levi Ackerman? How often does he pick Tiegan up?" Eren inquires, figuring that she would've acquainted herself with the man after working in the same building for so long. 

"Ohhh, why are you asking the question?" She drawls, looking at Eren suggestively and batting her lashes in a humorous manner. 

"I don't think we're on the same page here..."he responds, backing away in horror. 

She laughs and she slaps his arm to indicate that it was a joke. Eren doesn't get it. Perhaps she didn't get enough sleep yesterday night and is slowly becoming crazy. Yes, Eren thinks, that must be it. 

"What's so funny?" He asks. 

"Nothing. He's quite the looker and I thought...nevermind, you don't need to know that. What was your question again?" 

Eren sighs and repeats himself. Petra apologizes and answers, "Levi is Erwin's best friend. I would know because I'm also a close friend of Erwin's. They've been through thick and thin, so when Erwin's job really takes a turn for the worst and he can't pick up his child, Levi has to pick him up instead. Sometimes, it's his other friend, this bartender named Hanji. And other times, when I'm free, it's me." 

So she's his best friend...

Eren finds himself wanting to know more about this mystery man. Perhaps it'll help him later on, when he's getting revenge - if he can get revenge. Dammit, he hasn't thought of a good plan yet. 

"Alright, thanks Petra." 

"No problem. I have to go now. I think Nanaba is calling for me. Probably another poopy diaper or something." 

When the woman leaves, Eren finds himself laughing at her adorable choice of words.

'Poopy'

*

When Tiegan walks back inside the building with his group of friends, Eren immediately approaches him and pulls him away. Eren apologizes to the young boy and his friends. The damn kid is quite popular, unlike him when he was the child - but that's not relevant. 

"Ok, does Uncle Levi....I mean, Levi let you use his phone?" Eren asks, damning himself for saying 'Uncle Levi.' Aside from the fact that he pulled the kid away from his friends to ask ridiculous questions, the kid will think that there's something wrong with the caretaker's noggin. 

"It depends, why are you asking?" 

"I'm trying to get back at him. Do you happen to know his passcode? Don't worry, it's going to be a harmless prank," Eren assures. 

"Wait, what do you mean get back at him? I want to be a part of this," Tiegan's blue eyes light up, as if they can't be any brighter. Staring at them is almost painful. 

"I'm going to do something funny with his autocorrect. All you have to do is get him to surrender his phone for me and get him distracted. Can you do that?" Eren requests, hoping it isn't too much to ask, but telling from the excited look on the kid's face, it isn't. 

"Of course. I can get him to do anything for me. Do you have a iPhone or an android? By the way, it's 0880. His pass code is really simple." 

Eren writes the information down and keeping it as a centerpiece in his mental pin board. 

"I have the iPhone5. Why do you ask?"

"Good. He has the the iPhone5s. It's close enough. I'm going to steal his phone, give it to you, and use your phone so that he can continue chasing after me. Then you use that chance to do the funny trick with his iPhone." 

Eren nods with strong approval. It's still far from dismissal, but Eren's anticipation and impatience is already beginning to flare up at the sweet thought of the plan succeeding. Thank goodness the kid is choosing his side. 

"Oh my god, I'm eternally grateful for this, Tiegan."

Eren crouches low and pulls him close to his chest in a hearty embrace. He can feel the subtle pat of his tiny hand, and he supposes that it's the silent way of conveying, "your welcome." When Eren pulls away, Tiegan's lips spread into an adorable smile. This particular reason is why Eren loves this kid. 

*

Slowly, but surely, the day sets itself up for the typical afternoon. The blue skies begin to bleed bright oranges, blinding rays of gold, and pinks that flower into dark purples. Just as the traces of day disappears, so does the children as each one is picked up their parents. Eventually, Tiegan is alone out at the playground. 

Now, Eren is left alone at the counter with his chin resting at the flat of his palm and his elbow atop the counter. Now that there aren't any children causing a ruckus and wreaking havoc, the building is silent and Eren can happily bask in the tranquility. Perhaps Levi is lagging today or it's a longer wait now that Eren's anticipating it.

Tiegan walks up to the counter. 

"Mister Eren, he's almost here. Will you please hand me your phone so that I can throw Levi's at you when the time comes?" He politely asks. 

Eren complies and hands the kid the phone. In his tiny hands, he inspects the case with interest written all over his eyes. His eyebrows are furrowed and he pulls the phone closer to his face to make sure. 

"Wow, is this a different case?" 

The brunette nods, wondering what the big deal could be. Eren was given the new case by Mikasa, who thought that it would be a good idea to give him a present while she was in his house for a while. Now, he finds himself staring at the kid who's staring at his case. 

"What? What's wrong with it? Did I mishandle it in some way somehow?" He asks, quite confused as to why the kid is handling it like it's a kitten born with three heads. 

"No, I just think it's really interesting because Uncle Levi has the same exact case, only that yours looks more...new? Better? This could be fate or-"

Tiegan immediately hides the phone behind his back and fakes a wide and innocent smile. When Eren looks at the direction he's facing, he sees Levi closing the door to his car through the transparent windows. When the man spots Tiegan, he waves a friendly hello. When Levi makes eye contact with Eren, he forms a sour scowl, but chances are, it possesses no chance at beating Eren's threatening appearance. The brunette has an unmatchable dislike for the man and it's clearly expressed with the look in his face. 

"I'm going to out to the playground," Tiegan whispers just as Levi walks inside the building. 

Eren nods before turning back to the man with the painfully deep scowl, but he figures that every single drop of his disdain is worth expressing. 

"I get it, I get it. You hate me. You don't have to try so hard to make it obvious. Did Tiegan forget something out in the back or what?" Levi asks.

"No, he just doesn't like you anymore," Eren responds, mentally cringing at the tone that was on the verge of sounding like a petulant elementary schooler. 

"Ok then, Eren. You probably just pissed on your attitude today. Whatever," he says, walking past the counter and opening the backdoor. 

Eren waits for the perfect time to come. First, all he can hear is a conversation. Then, he knows that the plan has begun when he hears Levi suddenly raising his voice. When Eren looks through the door, he spots the man chasing the little kid around the playground, flustered and trying not to be angered. Eren can't help but laugh. The sight of a person like Levi, with his work-out clothes or whatever, chasing after a kid as tiny as Tiegan, is quite silly. There's an evident smile on Tiegan's face, but Levi is not enjoying the plight one bit. 

The young boy finds the opportune moment to run in the building. Bursting through the door, he leaves Levi surprised. Eren only holds eye contact with those sky blues for half a second before the kid throws the blue iPhone at him. Eren takes it and walks inside the closet behind the counter so that he can't be seen by Levi.

Through the door, he can hear an exhausted Levi, asking the kid, "What's wrong with you? You don't just take people's phones like that. Seriously, Erwin didn't raise you like this."

"Daddy's never home to teach me anything anymore, so it doesn't even matter. This is fun."

The response is quite melancholic, especially with his remark about his dad never being at home and his ability to easily swap subjects as if it wasn't a big deal. Eren can feel a part of his heart hurting, and he can bet his ass that Levi's heart pained just as much. On the other side of the door, Levi relaxes his posture and calms himself down with deep breaths.

With a steady voice, he says "give me my phone." In the way it was calmly delivered, there was almost a threatening note left at the end of his command.

Tiegan holds it close to his chest. "No, I'm not finished with it yet. I really like your phone and if I give it to you, you'll stop chasing me and we won't have fun any more, so no."

The kid continues to run around the building and the situation is a repetition of what took place outdoors, where Levi circles the room and attempts to capture the mischievous blonde boy. Eren quickly does what he does, following the passcode that Tiegan previously taught him.

"0880," Eren quietly says to himself. 

When his phone allows access, his fingers fire away, tapping to the settings, then to general, and finally to the keyboard. He devilishly smiles as he alters all of the shortcuts with the most inappropriate phrases he's ever read - sentences that would only belong in 'restricted' fanfiction. When he finishes, he exits the closet to find the entire building submerged in darkness. 

He can still hear the distant echoes of Levi asking the kid to give his phone back and outside the windows, he can see the older man chasing Tiegan around the playground. The look in his eyes possesses a galling intention of murder, glowing with the sinful promise of no mercy. Tiegan is completely oblivious to Levi's current state, smiling and going along in his merry way. Eren is amazed that the kid is able to keep up the fight up until now.

When Tiegan makes eye contact with Eren through the glass, he immediately runs inside. Eren places Levi's phone on the counter and Tiegan places his phone right beside it, switching the two. They take the phone that belongs to them before Levi comes running inside. 

If looks could kill. 

Levi stares at Eren with sharp, cold eyes and Eren can practically feel the man's fingers ripping through his chest and straight to his heart. He forms his hands into a fist and he strikes the organ to make it beat faster, louder. Eren feels as if the sound can be heard outside his chest, reverberating throughout the entire room. It steals the breath out of him and it only comes back when Levi rips his gaze away to turn to Tiegan. That's when Eren realizes - Levi knows. Now he's out to get the both of us. 

"Give me my phone back," he orders, using a tone of voice that's rough, and - Eren hates to admit this more than anybody, no he refuses to admit it at all - sexy, despite his breathless state. Even with his sweat as disgusting as it is, it works in his favor when it defines every muscles in his body, including the chiseled abs underneath his shirt. 

'What the hell am I thinking?' Eren urges himself to look away.

"Give me my phone back," he repeats. A threat is undeniably hidden behind his words. 

The childish blush in Tiegan's cheeks fade away and his wide, ecstatic eyes eventually die out like a flickering lightbulb. If Tiegan is acting, then this performance would've given him a Grammy. Eren's soul leaves along with the broken pieces of his heart. 

"But we had a lot of fun. I don't want it to end now," he stubbornly insists. 

Now, Levi is made to look like a bad guy, which he couldn't give two shits about. However, he does give a shit about Tiegan, and more than a shit to not call it a weakness. The man is left with no choices. He looks to Eren as if it'll give him all the answers to the universe, but he quickly decides that it's futile and looks away. 

"Tiegan, give me my phone so that we can leave this place," he says with a more steady tone. He reaches his hand out for the kid to place the phone on. 

Tiegan holds the phone to his chest as a sign of protest, but Levi shoots him with a threatening look and the young boy is forced to surrender the phone. It's a dramatic scene, truly it is. Tears form on the kid's eyes as he places the phone on the man's hands. As the droplets of water roll down his cheeks, the fragmented pieces of Eren's heart shatters into tinier pieces. 

"Here," he says after he finishes his impossibly emotional scene. Levi buys all of it, but he remains assertive. Even if it pains him to do so. Eren wonders how he's able to do it. 

"Kid, this is my phone. You do not just take my phone and send me running after you. You may call it fun, but I didn't enjoy it at all. We can have fun when we arrive at my place. Promise," he says. 

The young boy's eyes light up in the dark, badly-lit room. He jumps in place as he grabs Levi's arm and asks, "Then can we play with the x-box or kinect? Please?" 

The older man pulls his arm away. What follows is an image that's powerful to bend any witnessing straight man into a gay man. Eren even mutters the word 'damn' as the heat rushes to his cheeks. Looking down, Levi tenderly smiles at the kid before answering, "After I take a shower, kay?" 

Key word: smiles. 

Another key word: tenderly 

Tiegan nods and Eren's heart is riding roller coasters in his chest once again. The brunette isn't so sure what exactly is going on with him. He doesn't understand his body one bit. He wants to stop and he's trying to, but it's difficult to control himself when he's being swept off of his feet. 

'Do my eyes deceive me?' His asks himself, but after pinching his stomach and confirming that this is, indeed, reality, 'I can't believe I just saw that.' 

After their touchy moment is over, Levi looks to Eren with a poisonous glare. 

"What? Why are you staring at us?" He bitterly asks.

Eren immediately jumps to his defense, however unsuccessfully.

"I was...I don't know....you guys are adorable," he says, muttering the last part underneath his breath. 

"What? Can you repeat what you just said? I couldn't hear you." 

Levi walks towards the counter and leans forward so that he's inches away from the caretaker. Eren questions if it's several inches too close or if it's all in his head. He dares to hold the intimidating stare and not back up to the wall. The air isn't as heavy as Eren or Levi expected it to be. In fact, it's filled with electricity. 

"I said, you guys were adorable," Eren repeats and Tiegan holds back his laugh, placing a hand atop his smiling lips. 

Eren hopes that the line would help shoo away some of the excitement in the air, but it appears to have created the undesired effect. After a long moment of silence, Levi pulls back and takes Tiegan by the arm. He covers his eyes with his hand as he walks out, pulling along the innocent child - who's slowly figuring out that what had occurred, is tagged with more hidden messages underneath and he's slowly realizing what it is. 

"Goodbye, Eren! Have a good afternoon," Tiegan shouts, happily smiling.

Eren, who's turned away so that his back is facing the two, cups cheeks in his hands to feel the blush. He doesn't look back when he says, "Yea...see you too." 

When the door shuts, Eren allows himself to freak out. 

*

"I'm so sorry I was late. Daddy tried his hardest to pick you up early, but Daddy wasn't able to pick you up at all. I'm so sorry!" Erwin says as he runs into Levi's apartment and embrace the six year old. 

The skies are pitch black and littered with scintillating dots like the freckles to a person's face. The lonely moon is the brightest celestial object in the sky. 

Tiegan was already asleep when Levi shook him awake. His blonde locks are strewn in all directions and it looks like hay more than anything else. He's still half asleep and his heavy lidded eyes are threatening to close. His head bobs up and down as well, teeter-tottering over the line between consciousness and unconsciousness. 

He sleepily returns the hug as best as he can, but it proves to be a challenge with his arms being skinny and weak. 

"It's ok, daddy. You tried your best and that's all that matters." 

Tiegan attempted to make his voice sound more certain and more happy, but it came out as a weak reply. 

The response breaks Erwin's heart and all of his loving feelings spill onto his chest. It creates an uncontrollable ball of emotion that sobs and creates whale-like noises. Levi heads back to his room with his fingers plugged inside both of his ears. After all, he's seen the display too many times to count and the sound of his friend's cries are irritating. Tiegan ends up having to comfort his father. 

"I'm so sorry that I can't give you the childhood you deserve. I love you, Tiegan. Daddy loves you so much and he's working so that we can still have a roof over our heads and food on our plates. But I'm not a good father. I keep leaving you in daycare and-"

"It's ok. I'm perfectly fine with that. I get to hang out with my friends and it's a lot of fun. I understand your feelings. You do this every time you can't pick me up," Tiegan says, giggling to lighten the atmosphere. 

"I promise you, I will pick you up right on time tomorrow, ok?" He asks, gazing into his son's eyes.

"But please don't be sad if you end up being late."

Erwin nods and he stands up, holding his son's tiny hands. The busy father likes to think that holding Tiegan's hand keeps him strong, but in reality, it's to keep him from breaking down. 

A slightly muffled shout comes from Levi's room, "Just lock the door before you close it."

"Alright. Thanks."

"No problem." 

Levi hears his front door shutting and he finally allows himself to snuggle into the plushy covers of his bed. It takes a while for him to doze off, but when he does, his phone rings, scaring the shit out of him. He pulls it it from underneath his pillow and turns it on. The light is bright enough to blind him. When his vision adjusts to the harsh lighting, he sees a text notification, and it's from his dear friend, Hanji. 

"Have you watched the video I sent you yet?" She asks. 

Levi types no, but when he sends it to her, it comes out as, "fuck me right in the pussy." 

She's quick to respond with "hahahahahahaha" but in all caps. Then, she quickly sends, "Levi, I think you got the wrong number." 

He attempts to clear it up by typing down "no" once again, but when he sends the text, it comes out as,"fuck me right in the pussy." 

Levi sits up, extremely confused and angry. He's 100% sure that he didn't type what he sent. Levi quickly types a response that isn't 'no' but his message is somehow altered into, 'Cum in my mouth with your juicy cock Hanji I think there's something wrong with my autocorrect.' It isn't the exact feeling he wanted to convey, but the message is enough to help her figure out what's going on.

"That's ok, Levi. It's not wrong to have a sex life, especially one that's as exciting as yours. We're all adults here so there's nothing to be ashamed of. I never knew that you had such a naughty side, though. This is quite surprising," she playfully responds. 

Damn, the woman can type fast - and on top of that, with correct grammar and punctuation. 

'Fuck me right in the pussy, I'm being serious right now. Fuck me so that I remember nothing but your name, Hanji. Help me." 

On the other end of the conversation, Hanji is dying of laughter after receiving Levi's hilarious texts. Levi doesn't even have to say it anymore. His struggle is painfully evident. 

"I'm sorry. I just can't. This is too funny," she responds. 

The woman breaks away from her phone in order to laugh her ass off. Her laughter grows to the point of tears forming in her eyes and air no longer entering her lungs. 

"What the lick me in my sweet spot and slide your fingers inside my slippery hole is going on with this phone?" He asks. 

His frustration is taken to another level when this text is changed as well. He runs his fingers through his hair to help himself calm down. Someone did this to him. He doesn't know how and he doesn't know why. All he knows is that this person will die once he has their identity figured out.

While Levi stresses about his phone's defective autocorrect, Hanji fervently snaps several screenshots of this special moment in history. She needs to preserve this so that she can laugh about it in the future or share it with Erwin and then laugh about it together. The woman even forgets to take care of Levi. Her friend's frustration only grows. 

Levi sends, "HANJI" to remind of her of what she has yet to take care of. 

After running through the hilarious screenshots, she finally texts him back. 

"Just go to settings, then to general, and then to keyboard. Then, you look at shortcuts, and then reset it. Oh my god, but before you do, you have to take a screenshot of all of it and then send it to me," she swiftly responds, despite how lengthy the text is. Levi questions his friend's speedy texting abilities. 

"Alright."

Levi follows Hanji's instructions. The man hardly picks up his phone, which is why he barely understands his device. The only sort of intention he has in mind when using it is to text his close friends. His less-than-basic knowledge is quite disappointing to Hanji, who's a master at iPhone gadgetry. 

When he heads to his keyboard shortcuts, he finds an entire list of modified shortcuts and his level of anger rises after scrolling through each and every one. He would have been terrified at how the culprit was able to predict his favorite words if he weren't so furious. Levi takes a screenshot of the entire list and sends it to Hanji. He's well aware that the screenshots are only there for her to laugh at, but it's his end of the bargain for helping her out. Hanji saves all of it in her camera roll. 

Then, Levi takes the final step and resets the entire keyboard settings to make sure that all of it is truly gone. 

"Thanks for that." He texts his friend, relieved that there are no more pesky autocorrects. 

"Literally all of these are found in an average fourteen-year-old's fanfic. Oh my god. Who did this? This is the best thing ever." 

"Good night," he texts back. 

His friend isn't any help so he cuts their conversation off. He's also not in the mood to be laughed at. The man sits up from his bed and he squeezes his phone until his knuckles are seething white. Now, he's angrier than before and his fury is driving him to do something, he doesn't know what, but he knows that he can't stand this silence, or the stillness of the dark. Sleeping around is far from ever suiting this mood. 

He's just figured out who he is. 

*

For the entire day, Eren was hoping that Levi wouldn't find out about what happened, but considering the fact that the process had been so obvious, he wouldn't be surprised if Levi walks into the daycare and slams Eren's head against the wall - not that he actually wanted it to happen or anything. Whether Levi makes an appearance or not, his daily routine hadn't changed. It still consists of dealing with little brats that enjoy making his life a living hell and having to smile everything off as if it was nothing.

Eren sits behind the counter, watching Tiegen through the window. It isn't too late before the kid's final friend left, but Eren suspects that there will still be forty or so minutes before his old man will come to pick him up. 

What Levi told him about watching over the kid stuck to the back of his mind and Eren can't help but act upon it, despite how much he hated it. Something else that stuck to his mind is the handsome man himself. Eren wonders if he's thinking about the stranger more than he should, but because he doesn't want to believe that he may possess a tiny spark of romantic feelings towards him, he doesn't think much about the question. 

Someone knocks on the door. Erwin arrives earlier than expected, which will surely make Tiegan happy, but when Eren turns around, his eyes land on a group of well-dressed men with sombreros as large as their smiles and guitars held in their both their hands. A mariachi band - it's probably one of the most peculiar surprises he's ever expected. 

"Excuse me, but what business do you have with us here?" Eren politely asks, ready to kick them out at any given moment. 

He assumes that none of them understand English because none of them answer his question. They blankly stare at him before they all whisper into each other's ear. A guitar- less man nods at his crew and counts down from three. 

"Wait, what are you guys doing? You can play somewhere else, where you guys actually have an audience-" Eren suggests, but he's interrupted by their playing. 

The multitude of guitars play a beautiful and calming tune while the man in the middle begins singing something in Spanish, flirtatiously batting his eyelashes at Eren. The caretaker is amused and a little horrified at the same time. Who in the world hired them to do this?

Tiegan notices the large amount of people that are suddenly inside the building. After sliding down the pole, he runs across the playground with an enthusiastic smile. When he can no longer be seen through the window, Eren can spot the golden spikes of hair sticking out as he opens the door. 

Tiegan's eyes widen now that he has a closer look at the wonderful mariachi band, who's noticed the young boy. They begin focusing their attention to him instead, but they still play for Eren. However, there's something off about their jovial and celebratory beat, as if it's slower, - if the caretaker isn't mistaken, then they're actually serenading him, much to his disbelief. 

"You're so lucky, Eren! I wish someone would come to my house and sing like that. You guys sound awesome! What are they here for?" The young boy asks, raising his voice to be heard through the joyous music. 

Eren attempts to kindly tell them to stop, but they smile and they continue. He can talk to a brick wall and there wouldn't be a difference, only that the brick wall isn't singing him anything. The frustrated caretaker finally turns around to face the young man. 

"Huh? What did you say?" He asks. 

Tiegan repeats himself louder.

"I have no idea why they're here. I didn't even ask for them to play music. They just played it without my permission," he answers. 

The young boy smiles and claps his hands together, going along with the enjoyable Mexican beat. It makes it more difficult for Eren to be more assertive in telling them to stop. It's quite obvious with the dismissive hand motions he's making, but they don't appear to comprehend any of it either. 

'Are these guys crazy?' He thinks to himself. He even means the little boy dancing along to them. 

This is perhaps the highlight of his childhood and the best thing he's experienced so far, seeing that he spends a majority of his time in the daycare. His dance is quite silly and the mariachi band smiles at his adorableness, glad that there's someone who's not too much of a grouch to join along. Eren simply doesn't have the heart to end the joy. 

"Why don't you dance with me?" Tiegan asks. He sweetly holds out a hand for Eren, who had his arms crossed since the beginning of the band's performance. It's not that he doesn't enjoy it. It's more like Eren wants to show them how much he dislikes their music, which is completely untrue. 

Eren contemplates over the simple decision, but it doesn't dissuade the young boy. He doesn't respond for a while until he finally gives in to his charming smile and begging eyes. He takes Tiegan's hand. 

'I need to let loose sometimes or else I'm going to completely surrender to the harsh reality of adulthood,' Eren supposes. 

The brunette's smile is wider and he allows himself to be more careless in his dancing skills, striking weird poses with Tiegan and not minding that the men can see them. He's free and he can feel himself having more fun. The young boy monitors his caretaker and takes note of Eren's facial expression. He smiles fondly at Eren, glad that he's having fun. 

Nobody else is in the building. All of the other employees have left and it's Eren that has to stay after and wait until the final parent comes along to pick Tiegan up. So it hits him, Tiegan, and the mariachi band. The fact that nobody else is around allows him to be more comfortable with himself. He even attempts to sing a song with them, but he miserably fails and the singer pats him on the back to comfort him. 

Well...they thought that they were alone, but they were simply unaware of the man standing beside his car, watching the entire event. He even snaps a few embarrassing pictures of Eren with his phone. 

He waits it out a little bit more, choosing for an opportune moment to come in and rain on their parade. It's incredibly difficult for him to do so because he enjoys watching Eren making a fool of himself and his level of satisfaction skyrockets with the fact that Eren is completely oblivious to the event being a prank. 

In the middle of their dance, Tiegan pauses, catching the caretaker's attention. The young boy points outside with a shocked smile on his face. Eren pauses from his dancing as well and looks to the direction he's pointing at. Then, everything in Eren's being freezes up. 

Levi leans beside his car, watching the two - Eren in particular. He was just holding his phone to snap a picture, but at the realization that Eren has spotted them, he puts it away, mouthing out "oops" just to get underneath his skin. An infuriatingly smug smile graces his cheeks, and it challenges Eren to head out and start a fight then and there. The mariachi band spots Levi as well and they take it as an indication to stop singing, telling Eren that they were working for him. 

The peeved brunette crosses his arms and marches out of the building. His face is fully flushed as he stands before Levi, but he's too angry to bother himself with hiding it. 

"Wow, I never knew you could dance so well," Levi says, with sarcasm of course. 

"So I see you've figure out about your autocorrect prank," Eren supposes. That's the only reason why Levi would hire a mariachi band to play for him. "Why would you even spend money to get back at me anyway?" He asks. 

The question gets under Levi's skin and he quickly opens his mouth to say something, but he somehow musters the self-control to close it and hold himself back. The man takes a deep breath and let's it out. 

"Because this is kinda fun, this little game we're having," he cooly responds, retaining his beautiful smirk. 

Eren can't help but be swooned by his attractiveness, which makes him a mix of conflicted emotions. 

"Alright. I don't think you'd want to fight with me, though. I'm a dirty player," the brunette says, surprising himself when he manages to keep his tone steady. 

Now that Levi is standing in front of him, Eren is slowly coming to terms with the part of himself that's attracted to him. The sunlight enables Eren to see the chiseled abs through the man's shirt, the devastatingly beautiful face, and the delicious, broad shoulders. What kind of mess has he gotten himself into? More importantly, he's more gay than he thought! Why can't he keep his dick from twitching to life?

"Game on," he says with his low and sultry voice. 

A shiver runs up Eren's spine. He hates reacting like this.

"Challenge accepted," Eren responds. 

"Wait, Levi, is daddy picking me up or are you just here to prank him?" Tiegan cuts in, ruining the electric atmosphere between the two. 

"I'm only here to prank him. He promised you that he'd pick you up, didn't he? He's just running a little later than he thought." The man assures, making Tiegan smile. 

Levi gets inside his car, smiling at Tiegan and narrowing his eyes at Eren. The caretaker is appalled by the man's contrasting attitude between the two. He's tempted to scour the parking grounds for rocks and throw them at his car because that's how much of an asshole he is. 

Instead, Eren huffs and watches him drive away. 

When he turns around, he spots the mariachi band leaving the building. 

"Are you guys done now?" Eren asks, disappointed that they're leaving so early. He was hoping that they'd stay to entertain them while they were waiting for Erwin. 

"Yeah. Levi said that we had to stop once you noticed him," the singer responds. 

"Ok, farewell. Have a great afternoon," Eren says, waving each of them a goodbye as they walk inside their cars. They wave goodbye as well, smiling as they drive away. 

"Awww. I really wanted them to stay." 

Eren cranes his head downwards so that he can see Tiegan. Out of the two of them, Tiegan is the saddest to see them leave. After all, he was the one who enjoyed their singing the most. 

"They were probably paid to only play for that amount of time and they probably had to play in other places," says Eren. 

The kid's watery eyes makes Eren believe that he's a bad guy. He pitied Tiegan. The young boy most-likely hasn't seen anything as exciting as a mariachi band, and for an encounter as amazing as that, they left too soon. Eren holds Tiegan tight in his arms. He can tell that the young boy is on the verge of tears. 

"They'll be alright. I bet the mariachi band really misses you. You were a lot of fun too," Eren assures, trying his best comfort the little kid. 

"I'm ok now. I understand. Mariachi bands are wonderful, but because of that, we can't keep them to ourselves because they're very busy people. That's ok. I feel bad for adults," he says. 

Eren laughs at the kid's comment. 

"Being an adult isn't all bad," the caretaker responds. 

"Yeah, I know that adults can watch whatever movie they want and can go to any ride in the amusement park, but they have so much responsibilities and they have work to do. It's a lot to carry on their shoulders. What if they have small shoulders, you know what I mean?" He asks. 

Eren can barely grasp the idea behind what Tiegan is saying, but he nods anyway. 

"You do have a good point," Eren responds. "Since we're in the U.S., the adults can also drive, drink alcohol - but not do both at the same time. While those are fun, adults also have to work and take care of taxes. Got you," he says. 

The two continue their conversation, walking inside the store and waiting for Erwin to come. The conversation led to an opportune topic. Just like his mother, Eren was about to pass down his feminist and pro-choice beliefs when Erwin arrives. Eren immediately stops talking to point at the sad, sad man walking into the the building. 

The curiosity in Tiegan's eyes fade away and is replaced by joy. 

"Daddy!" 

He runs to his father and he hugs him tightly. Erwin wraps his arms around his kid and Tiegan snuggles into his chest. 

"I'm so sorry I was late again. I told you that I was going to pick you up early and everything, but I only disappointed you. I'm so sorry. We'll just drop by Shoppers to get donuts so that I can make it up for you," he says. In the tone of his voice, Eren can pinpoint the overwhelming amount of strain and effort he's taking to hold back his tears. 

The entire scene is absolutely heartbreaking so he looks away. 

"Oh my god, thank you! You don't have to, daddy. It's ok. It's in the heart that matters. Besides, you were kinda early today and at least you made the effort," he responds, smiling one of the sweetest smiles Eren has ever seen. 

It's probably reserved for his father during times like this. Eren doesn't realize that he subconsciously turned around to watch until Tiegan looks back at him, so he turns around once again. 

"Eren, thank you for watching my son. We're going to take our leave now," says Erwin. 

He finally allows himself to face them. Eren waves goodbye as they exit and Tiegan waves back. Erwin smiles at Eren, displaying pure gratitude. It warms Eren's heart that he was able to help. 

After their departure, he packs his stuff and locks everything up. Eren leaves the building to head back home. 

*

Atop Eren's plushy bed, Armin lies on his stomach with both of his legs kicking back and forth. He turns a page of his book and changes the song in his iPod, but he stops once his eyes land on Eren standing in the room. The blonde takes the earphones out of his ears and sits up. 

"Hey, you should go back to your house. I don't want to hang out. I'm too-" 

The sound of his phone interrupts his sentence. He reaches into his back pocket and he turns it on. It's a text from an unknown number. 

'It's Levi. Erwin told me your number. I think you might want these.' It says. 

His phone dings seven more times as he sends the photos he took of Eren dancing - all of which, don't look flattering at all. The photos were expertly taken at the split seconds he struck an embarrassing pose. It's quite funny, actually, but he keeps a grimace as he looks through all of the pictures. If he hadn't refused to admit any of it is funny, then he would have laughed at the picture of him when his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He looked like he was being possessed. 

"Oh my god, who took these photos?" Armin laughs, looking at Eren's phone over his shoulder. 

Eren is quick to respond with an 'I hate you' before turning to his friend. The brunette sighs to express his exhaustion and he collapses on his bed before coming up with an answer. Lying on his belly, he turns his head so that he can see those blue eyes that reminds him all too much of that dramatic father-son pair. 

"Someone paid a mariachi band to annoy me this afternoon. I danced along to them because this kid was in on the plan, I guess, and he made me dance. And the asshole who pranked me took pictures of me dancing while he was on his car," he answers.

"Sounds like a creep," his friend responds, sitting on the edge of Eren's bed. "But you should be glad that he added some excitement to your boring-as-hell job."

"I didn't ask for him to do that, but then again, I kinda took his phone and messed with his autocorrect." 

Armin slowly turns to him with round eyes, a perfect expression of surprise and astonishment. The tip of Eren's lips twitch into a weak smile and he would make a remark about his friend's hilarious face, but he's a bitter mixture of fatigue and laziness. 

"Why the hell would you do that?" He asks, louder than Armin intended. 

"Because he told Tiegan that I ate children for dinner," Eren responds, rolling his eyes to hint that he doesn't want to talk anymore. 

Armin reads into his attitude before he says, "Okay, one last thing. What was one of the things that you changed in his autocorrect?" 

Eren smiles mischievously, thinking about Levi's reaction and the amount of people he messaged before he pieced the puzzle together. He wishes he could have asked for what happened when he had the opportunity. 

"I substituted no for 'fuck me right in the pussy'. I also replaced please for, 'fuck me so that I remember nothing but your name.' I knew that he would use swear words when he texted, so I also changed hell into, 'lick me in my sweet spot and slide your fingers in my slippery hole'." Eren says, allowing himself to burst into laughter. 

Armin's laugh is louder and more uncontrollable. It gets to an uncomfortable point where he can't breathe. Eren gets up to try to help him, but Armin holds a hand out to stop him, telling his friend that he can handle it. The brunette waits for a while before his friend is fully calmed down. Armin wipes tears from his eyes.

"That's amazing. You're the best," he says in between deep breaths. 

"I know I got it from buzzfeed," Eren responds. 

"Ahh, buzzfeed." 

Armin looks to the distance and proudly nods. The two have been huge fans of the YouTube channel and they've learned many important life lessons from watching their videos. 

Eren doesn't feel as tired anymore. He sits up from the bed, a little disoriented but he's holding himself steady. 

"The thing is, the guy is too good-looking. He's making me question my sexuality and now, we've gotten ourselves in some sort of pranking competition," says Eren. 

"That sounds like the perfect idea for a fanfic. It would be cheesy as hell, though," his friend says. 

"Please don't connect my situation to those fanfics of yours. This is actually real life. And the guy is too good-looking to be an actual person living in this planet," Eren responds. 

"Ok, now you're just over exaggerating it."

Armin smiles suggestively, making the brunette blush. Eren trains his gaze on he floor, where his feet cross and uncross. He knows what Armin is implying and can practically visualize the kind of thoughts that run through his friend's head. 

"No I'm not. It's true," Eren mutters. 

"What's his name?" Armin inquires. 

"His name is Levi."

Armin freezes and his posture becomes erect. 

"Do you know him?" 

From the looks of it, Armin seems to be familiar with the name. 

"Does he have black hair? Is he short? And does he look like he's constipated all the time?" He hastens to ask. 

The description fits Eren's image of Levi perfectly. It shocks him to silence and by the look of Eren's face, Armin knows that they're both talking about the same Levi. How in the world does his friend know what he looks like?

"How do you know him?" 

Eren grips his friend's arm and shakes it as if it would shake the answers out of Armin's mouth. 

"He works part-time in the Walmart I would normally shop in. He also works as a waiter in this fancy restaurant I go to and lifeguards in the aquatic center. My friends have also spotted him taking on other jobs. Like, he delivered pizza to Sasha once. He's very well known in the town because he can be seen everywhere and he holds almost all of the jobs in here. He's also hot as hell." Armin rapidly answers, fanning himself at the thought of the good-looking man. 

Perhaps that's the reason why he goes to the bar at the end of the day. Eren also supposes that it's the reason why Levi was oozing with sweat in those two instances he was picking Tiegan up. It must have been extremely stressful for him. 

"I've never seen him my entire life," Eren softly says, "Why hasn't anyone told me about this? Is he that big of a deal?" 

"No. It's just a common fact that there's a guy named Levi in town and he works everywhere. People say that he's very mean, but that's probably because he hardly gets any sleep from all the work he's doing," he says. 

As if Armin couldn't get anymore excited, he does, and it overwhelms the brunette. 

"Oh my god. I know he works at Walmart early in the morning and he doesn't leave until around 10, so if you can get there before he leaves, you should do something sneaky under his nose," Armin suggests. 

It's not a bad idea and the enthusiasm is passed down to Eren. He doesn't remember being tired anymore. 

"Jesus Christ. What do I even do? I can't beat him. That Mariachi band was pretty good," Eren says. 

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. 

Armin smiles wider and he whispers the evil plan in his friend's ear. 

*

Levi no loner complains about waking up so early in the morning. He doesn't get sleep anymore and two hour power naps are the only things keeping him alive - which he doesn't mind either. He heads to his first job for the day, Walmart. All he has to do is run to a few places, make sure everything is checked, and man the cash register for a while. If he's lucky, then he won't make any unpleasant encounters with anybody. 

He gets his uniform on and he walks inside the store. His car is the only one parked in the lot so far. He takes the keys and he walks inside, doing what he needs to do. 

At one point, when he holds a pack of broccoli in his hands, he can't help but think about that Green-Eyed idiot he foolishly paid an entire mariachi band for. He had an awfully dorky smile. The man frowns. Chances are, a person as stupid as Eren is still single - not that it's a bad thing. 

Levi stares at the broccoli for too long and the sound of Mike's booming voice surprises him. 

"Hey, is there something wrong with the broccoli?" He asks. 

Levi almost drops the pack on the floor. 

"No, I was just thinking about groceries to buy." Levi expertly answers. 

"Alright." 

The man looks back at the pack of greens. What the hell was he thinking about? He frowns and he places it in the fridge. Why the hell was he thinking about that brat?

Levi finishes all of his errands and he heads to the cash register. Walmart opened up twenty minutes ago and some people have began roaming around the store with tiny baskets and grocery lists. The man rubs his eyes and widens them in order to keep them open. He yawns.

'Jesus Christ, Levi. Get yourself together. It's still the beginning of the day,' he tells himself, subtly smiling his customer-friendly at a passerby. It's a blonde that normally comes in the morning. Levi can't put a name to the kid. He saw him in the bar once...with Eren.

The blonde smiles back before continuing inside the store. 

'Holy shit did I just think about that green-eyed brat again?' He asks himself. 'Yeah, he's good-looking, but he's a stranger." 

Instead of avoiding thoughts about the kid, he ends up thinking more and more about him. Levi supposes that Eren has just moved in, which could explain why he has never seen him before - though deciding to live in Sina would be an act of pure stupidity. This place literally has nothing to offer, unless he's in here for the bad weather and the awful people. 

He puts the thoughts aside when he serves the customers, tending to them with friendly smile. 

'Enough about that brat. I need to get to work so that I can get this over with.' 

Levi finally finishes his job and begins packing up his belongings. He normally doesn't know what to expect when he leaves the store. However, the first thing he thinks about is his car, and when he looks to his car, it should be where it's normally parked, on the furthest corner from the garbage cans. 

The thing is, the days following that deceleration of war will never be the same. 

He almost screams of horror once his eyes land on the monstrosity, but he can only feel the fury pumping into his veins. An endless supply of carts are connected to the other, forming a gigantic circle that makes it impossible for the man to reach his vehicle. And if he does, then it would be impossible to get around without denting it somewhere. If this is the brat's idea of a prank, then he's taking it a bit too far. 

Levi heaves a sigh, runs a hand through his hair, and taps his foot with one hand on his hip. If it wasn't going to be a motherfucker to get his car out of the mess and put the shopping carts back into place, then he would laugh. Now he feels as if he should murder the kid because his little stunt will cause him to be late in his next shift at Starbucks. 

"Jesus fucking Christ," he mutters to himself as he begins pulling the formation apart. 

Since there are too many carts for him to control, he individually puts away the first twenty carts before he straightens the remaining amount of motherfucking carts and pushes them back into the store.

Levi remembers the blonde, the one that was found with his friend that fateful day where he and Eren met at the bar. He vividly recalls that brief moment where they exchange glances, and the way his lips ever-so-slightly twitched into a smirk. And it was a smirk because he knew what was going on. He knew what was up. And the infuriating part about it is, Eren wouldn't have known that Levi worked in Walmart in the mornings unless someone told him about it. 

"Now, I'm late. That green-eyed brat will get what's coming for him," he grumbles through clenched teeth. 

His grip on the steering wheel tightens and he can feel the leather complaining underneath his palms. 

*

"Hanji, do you have any good prank ideas?" 

The exhausted man leans on the palm of his hand and he absently stares at the bartender as she makes the usual drink. He visits the bar every night, so she knows what kind of drinks he wants in accordance to the mood he's slipped into. 

She skillfully slides the drink in front of him before answering, "Oh shoot. My pranking days are way behind me..." 

"You sound like Erwin," Levi responds as he takes a sip.

The woman takes off her glasses and cleans them with her sleeve. A pensive look graces her brilliant brown eyes. Levi has always admired her brown eyes. In fact, he's always admired beautiful eyes. Especially those sweet emeralds of Eren-

He dismisses the thought as quickly as it comes to mind. Unfortunately, Hanji picks up on his strange behavior, even when her glasses are in her hands. She immediately places the glasses back on the bridge of her nose and she leans forward on the mahogany with a shrewd look on her face. 

"What did I just saw?" she slowly asks. 

With hardly any space to move, Levi backs away with his drink in his hand. 

"What the hell? I have this thing called a personal bubble. Please stop invading that area," he demands. 

"Alright, ok. I'll back away. But what did I just saw? And you can't just change the topic or else it will confirm my suspicions."

She raises a knowing brow and wags a finger at him. Now that his personal space is no longer in danger, he returns to his original position and sets his drink on the bar. He stares at her for a long time, a warning that if she were to do that again, he would slice her. Then he takes a deep breath to show that he's let it go. 

"And you didn't see anything," he quietly answers, hoping that it's convincing enough for her to drop the topic. 

But of course, she doesn't. Levi isn't surprised at all. In fact, he expected it. 

"Why are you denying it? Hmm? I wanna know, Levi. Don't just leave me in the dark like this. We've been friends for forever, you can tell me about this little crush you have on Eren," she coos, deepening a blush that snuck into Levi's cheeks.

'When had it gotten there? Why is it there in the first place?' He asks himself, 

"I don't have a crush on Eren. Please stop addressing me like a middle schooler. Keep in mind, I'm the one that helped you land a job in this place in the first place. I couldn't give two shits about that green-eyed bastard," he says, carefully pronouncing words so that she can fully understand what he means. 

The venomous tone does nothing but fuel her excitement even further. 

"Ok, then why do you care enough to get back at him? If you really didn't have feelings for Eren, then you should have left things as it is,"she reasons. 

Levi is even angrier this time. Mainly because she's right. 

He takes his drink and he grips it like he wants to grab Hanji by the neck and choke her. Levi forces himself to calm drown, keeping his anger surprised with three huge gulps of the alcoholic beverage. The strongkick doesn't faze him, nor does the alcohol. In fact, he can hardly feel a shift in his attitude. 

"I don't care about him. We made a bet yesterday and I had too much pride to back down. Now he has his blonde friend involved and I figured it would be fair to have you involved too."

Hanji nods and leans towards the bar once again. She pensively rests her chin on the palm of her hand and she stares off into the distance. The two enjoy the coffeeshop's strange, but satisfying ambience and Levi's blush happily dies down. 

"You're going to have to step up your game so you can also do this... I have a very good idea."

She continues explaining her plans. Levi hangs onto every word she says until the idea is clear in his mind and he's looking forward to tomorrow. All he has to do is get a certain someone to join his side. And it won't be difficult just as long as he has money. 

* 

Tiegan approaches Eren with eyes that are filled with as much tears as he can muster, but for effect, he also holds them back. Eren is weak in the heart and the sight of the kid in tears shatters his heart every time. He's quick to tend to him. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" Eren asks, stooping down to stroke the kid's beautiful blonde locks. 

"Can I call father?" The young boy chokes out. 

From the looks of it, Tiegan doesn't want to be asked why. It's difficult enough for the young boy to keep himself together, and it won't take long before he completely breaks down. Eren asks the question anyway. 

"Hey, I need to know why. The people can't just let you use the phone for no reason," Eren answers. 

"I can't say, but if I can't use the phone because I won't say the reason why, then can I use your phone instead?" He suggests. 

Eren is a little reluctant at first. He thinks about his response for a while, though it's awfully difficult for him to concentrate when a pair of beautiful blue eyes are staring at him. Can he really trust a kid with his phone? Then again, this kid is Tiegan and he doesn't just do whatever he wants. He trusts Tiegan.

Eren presses his lips together and narrows his eyes, afraid that he'll regret making the decision. The caretaker digs in his back pocket and fishes out his device, placing it in the young boy's small palms. It's been a long time since he's allowed people to use his phone, so it's extremely difficult for him to let go. 

"Here," he breathes out, letting go of all his fears about his phone. 

Tiegan looks at the phone, but looks up with an apologetic look in his eyes. It's one of the most beautiful things he's ever had the fortune of seeing and it would have swept him off of his feet had it not been the children that ran into him. 

"If you're extremely uncomfortable with me using your phone, then you don't have to let me use it," he says. 

"Do you want to call your father or not?" Eren asks. 

Tiegan looks down and sheepishly nods.

"Don't feel bad about it. I'm always gonna be here to help you out, so don't worry about a thing, kid. Now go, call your father," Eren says, shooing him away. He stops the boy before going too far. "Also, you can make the call at my office so that you're alone."

The young boy nods and heads behind the counter, walking through the door into Eren's little office. Technically, the office belongs to all the staff members, but everybody claims it as their own because each one has their own use for it. Eren, just like everybody else, uses it to keep his lunch. 

He continues surveying the tiny kids and waits for a really long time. Eren assumes that it must be an important conversation if it takes a large amount of time to finish. Eventually, Tiegan's tiny figure heads out the door in a much happier mood. He places the phone back on Eren's hand. The caretaker smiles. 

"Are you alright now?" He asks. 

Tiegan smiles back and nods. He goes off with his friends to have fun. Eren pockets the phone. 

*

Levi nonchalantly enters the daycare as if he hadn't just paid a kid to change his caretaker's phone settings. He can see Tiegan running towards the building with a wide smile. Telling from the looks of it, Eren still hasn't found out. 

"What an idiot," he mutters to himself.

"What was that?" Eren asks in a cold tone.

"What was what? Good afternoon to you too," he says. 

The half-assed 'good afternoon' reminds Eren that he forgot to greet the man. He refuses to return the greeting and he stubbornly crosses his arms, looking away from him. Eren decides that Levi is not worth his time. It pisses him off. The very fact that his mere presence is more than enough to ruin his afternoon is even more infuriating. 

Tiegan runs inside and hugs Levi. 

"Hey there. What's up?"

Levi almost stumbles backwards at the sudden impact, but he stands his ground and he runs his hand trough the kid's blonde locks with a rare smile that sends shivers down Eren's spine. How could smile like that? Who else in this planet has he smiled to? Eren realizes that the genuine smile, the sudden appearance of it, and the sheer beauty of the man is unfair. Everything about him is unfair. 

"I'm doing great. So you're picking me up again?" Tiegan inquires.

"Yeah. Your father is extremely busy and he'll probably come crying in my apartment tonight. Whatever."

Tiegan nods and smiles before turning to Eren. Levi looks to Eren as well and the gorgeous grin fades away. Tiegan approaches the counter and holds up his hand in invitation. Eren gently gives him a high five. 

"Thank you for today, Mr. Eren," Tiegan says. 

The caretaker still thinks that Tiegan is thankful for letting him use the phone in the office, but the young boy is simply thankful that he has twenty new dollars in his pocket. With that knowledge, Eren would have choked the young boy. 

"No problem, kid. Have a great afternoon," he says. 

"Thank you. Same for you."

Tiegan takes Levi's hand and they walk out of the daycare center, just like that. Right before they step through the door, Levi looks at Eren and waves a goodbye. Caught completely off-guard, he forgets to wave back at the man until Levi is no longer looking at him. A blush creeps up on his cheeks and Eren attempts to smooth out the wrinkles on his shirt. 

"What the hell was that for?" He asks in the lonely room. 

His voice echoes throughout the entire daycare. 

If he could, he would slap himself for blushing and for developing feelings that he shouldn't. He can't exactly pinpoint what it is and how it came to be. All he knows is that his heartbeat is the only thing he can feel through his fingers, in his neck, in his arms, and in his legs. Eren attempts to control it but he figures that there are several functions in his body that he simply cannot control. 

Eren eventually finds the reason to take his belongings and head out of the building. He closes the door behind him and he locks it. 

The sky is curtained by black clouds and in the manner that it spins, slowly rolling across the town to make the townspeople feel as if the entire world is against them, it carries a threat of a storm. Not necessarily a good one. Eren is smart to head inside his car. 

He quickly leaves the parking lot and drives to his house, hoping that there's still enough time before he's caught up in the storm. It would be incredibly difficult to make it back home. Thankfully, there aren't too many cars on the road. 

Eren feels lonelier than ever: not warned about the storm, driving in silence because the radio isn't picking up any signals, and realizing that nobody else is out because they knew about the storm coming. Then he begins thinking about Tiegan and Levi, making him feel more lonelier than ever. 

He continues driving with streaks of lightning snaking beneath the clouds, signaling that the storm will start soon and if not, then now. The brunette increases his speed and makes it to his street when the rain begins to pour. 

"Ok. I'm good. The house isn't that far from here," he says to himself, turning on the windshield wipers.

Suddenly, a rainbow appears. Not just a rainbow that's formed in the sky, but a rainbow formed by his windshield wipers. Now, colors streak throughout Eren's windshield. The colors shortly begin mixing with each other and bleeding downwards as the rain continues pattering. Eren can hardly see the road, but thankfully, he spots his house right around the corner. 

Eren safely parks his car, making sure not to hit the cars parked on the side of the road. He steps out in the delightful downpour to check on what had been done to his vehicle. In front of the windshield, someone has squeezed acrylic paints. Of course, now it appears to be a bloody mess because of the rain. 

'This'll be a motherfucker to clean up,' he tells himself. 'If I leave it like this, then this might permanently damage my car.'

Eren heads inside his house first. He comes dripping wet, but he doesn't bother himself with his current state as he takes rags from the bathroom. The brunette makes his way outside once again. Yes, he's aware that the rain can wash the paint away from him, but he also knows that if it doesn't, it'll dry up like an asshole. 

Once he finishes wiping his car, he heads back inside and places his wet clothes in the hamper. Naked, he wipes himself with a towel and he puts on some underwear before pensively sitting on the couch. Eren's brown locks stick to the sides of his face and he runs his hand through the strands so that they're no longer bugging him. 

"Levi that prick. No, not even a prick. He's a fucking cactus," Eren says to himself. 

"Who's a prick?" A voice asks, making Eren jump in his seat. 

The lights turn on and a woman walks down the stairs with her sleeveless tank-top and lacy underwear. She wipes her eyes and she rapidly blinks to clear her vision. Once it focuses on her troubled brother, she frowns at him. 

"I also see that you've began showering in the rain again," she adds. 

"Jesus fucking Christ, Mikasa. When did you make it back home?" Eren asks, a burst of anger for making him feel as scared as he had. 

"This morning, but you were obviously at work," she says. 

"But why didn't you contact me? I could have bought something for us."

"Like you actually have the money to do that. No matter. The first thing I did was collapse on my bed, so don't worry about it," she says pausing before she asks. "Now who's the prick you were muttering to yourself about?"

"Just this dude that has been messing with me for the past couple of days," Eren answers. 

"Ooh a dude. Are you sure he doesn't have a little crush on you?" She teases. 

Eren doesn't respond with another snarky remark like he normally would. He angles his head downwards in hopes of concealing his blush, but Mikasa can see it nice and clear. It's enough of an answer to catch her attention. She sits right beside her brother and wraps an arm around him. He contorts his face in disgust and he pushes her away. 

"Ew, you smell horrible," he says. 

Unfortunately for him, it doesn't work. Mikasa's hold on him is as strong as ever. 

"Speak for yourself. You smell like a moist asshole. And for the record, I smell fantastic."

"You're invading my personal space," he says, his struggle slowly dying down until he gives up. 

"Yes I am. Now tell me about this guy you have a crush on," she demands. 

Mikasa pulls herself closer to her brother. He can even feel her boobs squishing on his shoulder. 

"Ok, I will. Just step away from me a bit. Your breath smells like shit. I'm not kidding. You need to brush your teeth up."

"Alright."

She lets go of him and scoots several paces away from her brother, the shine in her eyes never wavering. 

"Well, we met each other at the bar. Armin's friend was celebrating a birthday and I couldn't just let him go to the bar all on his own. I didn't really wanna join their clique so I sat alone at the barstool, where I met the guy. My first impression of him was that he's an asshole. My first impression still stands," Eren answers, confirming Mikasa's suspicions of his feelings for the guy. 

She squeals and kicks her feet at the seat. 

"Oh my god. You're so cute. This is the first time you've ever had a crush on a guy. How does it feel to be a part of the club?" 

"What club?"

"The gay club. You're officially a member now."

"I'm not part of the gay club. I'm a straight man, alright? Just because I like one guy doesn't mean I'm not straight. I'm still not attracted to men in general."

Eren's response causes Mikasa to pout. 

"Alright, what does he look like?" She asks, quickly snapping out of her disappointment. 

The woman leans forward, invading Eren's personal space once again. Her eyes are large from curiosity and her smile stretches from ear to ear. When Mikasa's smile is as wide as this, she's extremely enthusiastic. 

"Well, I'm guessing he goes to the gym everyday or his jobs are labor intensive because he's build like a Greek god. On top of that, he has this scary look to him, as if he's threatening to slice you by simply daring to stare back at him. But goddamn, it's so hot. Also, he's short and he hates being made fun of for his height."

"Wait, what's his name?" Mikasa inquires, pressing her hand on Eren's leg.

"His name is Levi. Apparently, he's well-known in town because he has a lot of jobs and people see him everywhere."

"Yeah, I've heard and I talked to him before. He's an asshole."

"Like I've told you."

"Do you seriously have a crush on Levi? From the rumors, he's around thirty years old, but I actually don't know anything about the guy."

"Can you stop that? This is not middle school anymore. I don't wanna gossip or talk about my cute little crush for Levi when we're doing nothing about it. I'm gonna let this die down. We're just pranking each other, nothing more, nothing less," Eren declares, removing his sister's hand from his leg. 

Mikasa elbows him instead, right at his arm. 

"Oh my god, I'm just teasing you. I didn't actually hear any rumors about his age. I just know that he's an asshole without any money. You really shouldn't disregard your feelings like that, though. You should address them like the way you address sadness, happiness, anger, and confusion. Of course, those aren't all the feelings in the spectrum of emotion, but you get what I mean."

Eren rubs his wounded area, but looks to Mikasa with a raised eyebrow. 

"I'm not interested in getting into a romantic relationship. Commitment is a scary thing..."

"Then you're a coward."

"Yes I am. I don't care."

"Alright then. You might not care, but if ignoring your true feelings is actually going to make you happy, then you didn't get any better since mom died," she snaps. 

The brunette glares at his sister, her unapologetic eyes and her stubborn frown. She stares back and she refuses to back away. He stops rubbing his arm. 

"Don't you dare bring mom up in this. She has nothing to do with my love life. We're supposed to be talking about my troubling crush with this good-looking asshole, not mom," he sharply responds, a warning tucked underneath his menacing tone. 

Suddenly, the air between the siblings shifts. It's as abhorrent as the weather outside and a sour taste creeps inside their tongues. Mikasa gets up from the couch, incredulous. Despite the fact that she's the one who brought up the forbidden topic, she can't believe Eren said what he just said. 

"She's our mom, Eren. You can't just continue running away from the memory of her. You keep making excuses, but you're just afraid of facing your feelings. And as long as it hurts or inconvenience you, you refuse to face them. I hope you know that you're the biggest coward I've ever met."

The brunette rolls his eyes, dismissing the topic. It angers Mikasa even further, but she's holding to the final bits of self-control in her possession. She remains calm despite his blatant disrespect. Eren heaves a sigh to show that he's dropped the conversation and isn't interested in what she has to say. 

"Yay me." 

"I'm just trying to help you Eren-"

That line.

"Stop saying that. You're not trying to help me. Mom and Levi have nothing to do with each other. There are several ways of coping with grief and I chose to never talk about her. Ever. You're not helping me at all," he snaps.

"You're not even dealing with the problem. You're running away but stuck at the same, useless place as before. She was my mom too. I was just as hopeless as you were. You know, it would be really nice if I had a brother I could properly talk to this about," she says. 

Tears begin to appear on the edge of her eyes and she's doing all she can to hold them back. Eren turns the other way to avoid looking at the damage he's done. He knows he's fucking up, but with his stubborn ass, it's not in his nature to let her win. 

"As if you were actually her daughter. You call it running away, but I call it moving forwards. Maybe you're the one who's stuck in the same, hopeless place," He scoffs. 

Mikasa shakes her head. Eren had already taken things too far, but the final comment hits her like a tidal wave and the shock sweeps her away. A bomb drops in her stomach and she doesn't think the falling sensation will ever cease. She digs her nails into her palm and she bites her lips to hold back the poisonous words waiting in her tongue. Without another word, Mikasa heads back upstairs. 

In the sound of rain hitting the windows, Eren places his face in his hands. 

'I'm such a fuck up. I can't believe I just did that.'

*

"Levi, I think you're putting forth too much effort into pranking Eren. I mean, he's just my caretaker. He didn't really do anything to deserve this."

When Tiegan finishes his statement, he looks to Levi for an answer, but it turns out that he was focused on the TV the entire time. The room is shadowed and his wide, engrossed eyes reflect the bright light of the screen. Levi slowly takes a popcorn from the bowl and places it inside his mouth. 

"Levi, were you listening?" Tiegan asks, frowning. 

He uncrosses his tiny legs and he climbs the couch to sit next to the man. Tiegan makes sure that Levi sees his frown so that he can understand how disappointed he is. He leans forwards and almost knocks the bowl of popcorn over. 

"I heard you loud and clear," Levi emptily responds, pushing the kid away. His eyes never leave the TV screen and even Tiegan's tiny stunt doesn't bother him. 

With the remote control set atop the coffee table - an easy access, he's incredibly tempted to take it in his hands and press the power button. However, he's a kind soul and he gives the man a second chance.

"Well?" 

Levi sighs and he briefly glances at Tiegan before returning his eyes to the show. He answers with an unbearably monotone voice. 

"I'm actually having fun while I'm playing this little pranking game of ours. Now, my life is a little more exciting and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he has in store for me. I also enjoy the fact that you're on neither side, but you're helping us out as well." Then he adds with his normal voice, "Can the interview be finished already?" 

"No, you usually don't get involved in these kinds of things. You have special feelings for Eren, don't you?" Tiegan presses.

"Oh my god." 

Levi places the large bowl on the boy's lap and he reaches out to take the remote and turn the tv off. With the exception of the lighting flashing through the windows, the room is so dark, it's impossible for anyone to see anything. The living room lights flash on and Levi can be seen standing across the room with his hand on the switch. He sits back down on the couch, right beside the young man. 

"Why are we talking about this now?" Levi questions. He raises an eyebrow and his eyes narrow as if it would help him read through the kid's mind. 

"Because I want to know. You're a precious friend, Levi," Tiegan adorably answers. 

"Awe thanks kid. I don't think a friendship between a thirty year old man and a six year old is likely, though," he says, pressing his lips into a straight line and shaking his head. 

"Well, it can happen. I'm friends with my dad, who's thirty-two years old. So of course it's possible." 

"He's friends with you because he's your dad, kid," Levi reminds him. 

Usually, the phrase would offend him, but Tiegan is not affected by the man's coldness anymore. He's been around him for so long, he's accustomed to the man's painfully sharp and straightforward tongue. The young boy shrugs and smiles. 

"The father and son relationship was by chance. The friendship was by choice, but I want to talk about Eren again. Please don't try to change the topic."

Levi groans and rolls his eyes before heaving out in a sigh, "Alright. I got it."

"You know, you guys should become friends rather than fight each other in a pranking war," he suggests. 

Levi raises his eyebrow and smiles. 

"What makes you say that?" 

"Because I think that Eren would really spice up your life and I think you would do the same for him."

"I don't even know his last name," he petulantly responds. 

The man is itching for the conversation to end. Getting into the topic of Eren, a green-eyed creature that Levi is undeniably attracted to, is making him uncomfortable. Sure, it's with little Tiegan, a person he can trust, but little Tiegan is also the bridge between him and Eren. More importantly, he needs to return to watching his show before the segment is over. 

"That's why I said you two should be friends. Part of that process includes getting to know each other."

Levi rolls his eyes once again.

"This plan is a little iffy. What if he doesn't need anybody to spice up his life? What if we don't want to become each other's friends. I mean, I'm pretty sure that the both of us are perfectly fine being each other's mortal enemies."

"It doesn't hurt to try."

Tiegan smiles sweetly, but Levi refuses to be influenced by the kid's looks. 

"I don't want to try," he quickly responds. 

"Then do it for me?"

Tiegan eyes widen and tiny hints of tears begin to form. He pouts and does all he can to create the perfectly heartbreaking scene that could emotionally sweep Levi away from his opposing stance. And just as Tiegan planned, it does. 

Levi is quite bugged and he can't pinpoint the exact reason why. It's either the kid's amazing acting abilities, or the fact that he's touched - even with the knowledge of Tiegan's true intentions. This evil, evil kid. 

He turns away before too much damage is inflicted on his heart. Once his back is turned, Tiegan drops his puppy-like expression, a sour pout in it's place. The young boy thought for sure that that would have been able to convince him. Tiegan supposes that with all of his guns pulled, Levi still can't be shattered. 

He leaves the kid without an answer, getting up to turn the lights off. But just as he does, Erwin comes knocking and Levi turns around to open the door. He's earlier than the time he would normally come by. 

Tiegan jumps off of the couch and runs to his father, wrapping his short arms around the man's huge build. 

"Daddy, I didn't think you'd come so early."

Erwin gets on his knees to wrap his arms around Tiegan's tiny body and hold him tight. The man has deep bags underneath his eyes and his smile is weaker than ever. His skin has lost it's usual glow and all of his grace is nearly stripped away from his being. He is falling at the seams. 

Levi has been observing the man's health for a while and understands, more than anybody, that his job is causing his body to slowly deteriorate. And yes, it has everything to do with the fact that he's overworking himself. Levi's concern for his friend grows every time he sees him. 

"Smith, can I talk to you for a sec?" Levi asks. 

Erwin looks up and he pats his little boy in the back to signal that the hug is over. The father stands, saying to his son, "I'm gonna chat with Levi. Please wait here until it's over, kay?"

Tiegan obediently nods and Erwin follows Levi into his dark room. As Levi walks inside, his friend flicks the light open and closes the door behind him. The expression on his drained face almost looks guilty. It's as if he already knows what's coming at him. And he should - because Levi's furious expression tells it all. 

Levi crosses his arms and cuts to the point. 

"What the hell is happening to you?" He sharply asks, the question cutting straight through the man's head. 

Erwin waits for a while before he figures that he has no choice but to answer. 

"Nothing happened to me," the man slowly answers. 

Levi places both his hands on his hips and cranes his head upwards. It's incredibly difficult having a conversation with this man when he's several feet taller than him. 

"Are you even sure you can drive back home without passing out?"

Erwin looks to the floor, not answering. Levi sighs. He isn't disappointed in his friend's inability to respond. In fact, he was expecting to receive this kind of behavior from him. It's just that he was hoping for things to be different. 

"Listen, Smith, and you better listen good." 

Levi's tone is deadly, reaching into the man's core and pulling his heartstrings. Erwin does as he's told and he holds his head upwards, looking his friend straight in the eyes.

"Yes, you're struggling with the divorce, keeping a roof over your head, and putting food on the plate - I get it. But Jesus fucking Christ, think about taking care of yourself for once. Have you ever thought about how your son feels about this situation?" Levi asks. 

"Levi...." The man is at a loss of words. Erwin never thought about things that way. Yes, he greatly considered Tiegan's feelings, but the two never directly discussed the matter. 

A throb of pain courses through Erwin's fingers, his hands, and his head. The man is hardly paying attention. He stands in the threshold between consciousness and unconsciousness, but he can feel himself falling into the latter. 

"What has gotten into you? You're hardly awake right now."

Levi shakes his head as he scans his friend's current condition. He wants to cry, but he wants to slap him more than anything. A majority of his feelings are anger and he's trying to hold it all back. 

"Erwin, you need to find another job. Yes, this one pays, but it's tearing you apart. I can hardly recognize you anymore." 

"I don't know if I can," the man responds. Erwin languidly walks towards the bed and Levi is instantly by his side to guide him. 

He drapes Erwin's thick arms on his shoulder and places a hand to his chest to make sure that he's still standing. The sense of balance abandons his legs. They pathetically wobble and trip upon each other - making it a struggle for Levi to aid his friend.

"Why? Why don't you think you can?" 

"Because..."

Levi sets his friend down on the bed and he sits over the edge, barely keeping a himself up. Erwin's eyelids are far too heavy and his respiration is shallow, but Levi refuses to let the conversation go.

"Why? This town may suck, but it's easy to come by another job."

"Levi, even with the amount of jobs you have, you still only have money to sustain yourself. In my job, I'm being paid enough for the both of us. I can't just...I need to think about things. It might cause a worse change," he slowly says, struggling to stay on his train of thought. 

Levi stands beside the bed and watches at his friend. From the looks of it, he has his life together, so nobody would ever bother to ask if he's ok. In reality, he's a mess - just like this town. Erwin is no longer responsive, emptily staring at whatever is ahead of him. 

The room is blurring and Erwin is struggling to keep his vision focused. 

"Just sleep here. I don't care. I'm gonna tell Tiegan, but you guys can't share the bed. He'll sleep on the couch and I'm gonna sleep elsewhere." 

Erwin looks at his friend, but at this point, he's far too incapable of speaking or conveying emotions at all - not that he wouldn't be speechless if he weren't so dazed. He knows that Levi's kindness can only reach to a certain extent. Allowing him to sleep over is way past Levi's limit.

"Why can't Tiegan sleep with me?" The man asks, hardly audible. 

"Because Tiegan can't see you like this." 

With that, Levi shuts the lights and closes the door behind him. In the lit hallway, he's tempted to punch the wall or anything that could release this boiling frustration kept within him. Erwin will only worsen if he continues - and Levi can't stand watching his friend or Tiegan suffer. 

So Levi almost punches the wall. Almost. In fact, his hand is curled into a fist and it's raised, but he lets it go. Instead, he runs his hand through his hair and he sighs. 

He heads to the living room to tell Tiegan about the news. 

*

"Ok, Tiegan. How much did Levi pay you yesterday?" 

Eren figured out that the kid changed all of his contact names under the instruction of Levi when he attempted to text Armin yesterday night but found that all of the names were changed to 'Bob'. And Eren didn't even know of a Bob. It took him about thirty minutes to fix up his contact list, since he doesn't have much friends to begin with. However, Eren is still pissed. 

He crosses his hands in front of his chest and he stares at the young boy, tapping his foot as he waits for an answer. 

"He paid me twenty dollars," he happily responds.

Eren's eyes widen at the large sum of money. Perhaps Levi isn't as financially troubled as he initially thought. Twenty dollars is far too generous to pay a little kid for help. 

"Who would pay twenty dollars for you to change all the contacts in my phone? Seriously?" He asks. 

The brunette's understanding of Levi goes down the drain. Perhaps the man is just stupid and perhaps that's the reason why he has so many jobs in town. 

"I think he was just biased because he loves me. And it was easy too. You didn't really have many people in your contacts," he responds. 

"Hmmmm."

Yea, it's perfectly fine if Eren says it, but if someone else makes a jab about his tragic social life, he feels as if he's been stricken to the heart. The remark highly offends him but he keeps a smile to his face. 

"Alright. Ok, what if I wanted you to help me instead?" Eren inquires. 

"I don't know if I want to."

The response is quite a surprise since the kid is usually more than willing to help. Yes, Eren is shocked but he quickly gets over himself when he notices Tiegan looking to the floor with a melancholic expression. 

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about it," he answers and his low spirits manifest the tone of his voice after every word. 

He fakes a smile to get Eren off of his back, but Eren knows. Sometimes, the kid is too easy to read. He almost asks Tiegan about it. And by almost, Eren opens his mouth to utter the start of his sentence and he almost continues. He stops when he sees Tiegan's eyes begging him to return to the original topic. 

"Ok. I'm not gonna talk about it then. But what if I paid you a little higher?" Eren asks. 

"By how much?" 

Eren feels around his pocket for money. He pulls out several crumpled bills and he flattens them out so that he can determine the amount. Tiegan isn't impressed. It doesn't appear to be much. 

"By five dollars?" Eren pathetically asks as he holds out twenty-five dollars in front of him. Tiegan purses his lips and stares at the amount pensively. 

The caretaker continues fishing in his pockets for more. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have much luck.

"Nah. How about by fifteen dollars? If you pay me thirty five dollars, then we'll be good."

Eren pauses to stare at him with wide eyes. His jaw drops to the floor. He can't believe this kid. A wry smirk is on his cheeks. Yes, it's adorable, but it's a scary sort of adorable. Perhaps it's because it doesn't suit his personality at all. 

"No! I'm not a millionaire! How about by ten? I'll just pay you thirty dollars. We've gone right in the middle," he proposes, fluttering the proper sum of cash in front of the kid. 

His regularly innocent smile returns and Eren is glad that it no longer feels as if there's a drug dealing going on. Eren smiles back at Tiegan. 

"That's fair," the kid says. 

He takes the cash from Eren's hand and he looks over it to check if it's the promised amount. Indeed, it is and a satisfied smile spreads across the kid's face. 

"Good, good. Now what do you need me to do?" Tiegan asks. 

"I need you to throw poop at him," Eren answers. 

At Eren's answer, Tiegan's eyes widen and he shakes his head, quickly placing the money back in the caretaker's hands. 

"No, I'm not gonna do that."

Eren laughs and gives the money back to the young kid. 

"Let me explain."

*

Levi steps out of the car and begins to journey inside the daycare building - only, there's something slightly off about it. He notices the difference when the first step he takes is right beside a hideous piece of shit. Yes, a real - not sure whether it's a dog or human's - piece of shit. Levi gags at the sight of it and he continues walking through the lot, making sure not to step on any other disgusting excrement. He pinches his nose so that he doesn't even get whiff of it. 

The parking lot seems to be larger now that Levi is navigating through the multiple piles of poop lying across the ground. Levi breaks a sweat and he curses himself for not parking any closer. He will have a word with Eren once he makes himself inside. 

Looking through the glass, he finds it quite strange that Eren is not present behind the office table. Levi can only assume that he's out there in the playground with Tiegan. Or maybe his absence has something to do with the poop found all over the parking lot. 

Right before he pulls the door open, a piece of shit falls from the sky and lands right on the door handle. He immediately rips his hand away, shakes the pieces of poo off, and jumps back with large eyes. Levi stares at his hand and then at the door, then back at his hand. Several moments later, a guttural scream escapes his throat. He bewildered man is pretty sure that the entire vicinity heard his episode and must think that a murder is taking place. 

"What the ever-loving hell? Why is there so much shit here?!" He hollers, as if the almighty being would descend from his heavenly throne to answer his question.

Reaching out for the second door handle, another piece of poo falls from the sky. It almost lands on Levi if he wasn't so keen to a second attack. He immediately steps to the side and stares at the squashed piece of shit on the floor. When he cranes his head upwards, he sees nothing. 

At this point, he's figured that this is an orchestrated event. Pieces of shit simply can't materialize on the parking lot and it's less possible for poop to fall from the sky. There's a small window located at a floor right above him. Perhaps that's where the two troublemakers are camping at. 

"Guys, I know that it's you up there," he says, cupping his mouth with his hands. 

And it's true. The two have yet to reveal themselves to the man down below, and they sure as hell are getting a kick out of messing with him. Tiegan silently laughs at Levi's reaction while Eren slaps his hands atop his lips. A bag of faux poop lies by their side and the two are huddled together on the floor. 

"The funny part about this is that he's a tiny bit of a germaphobe," Tiegan struggles to say between giggles. 

Well this is new. 

The brunette is about to throw the piece of shit, but he hears the statement and he slowly sits himself back down. Eren's jaw drops and his eyes widen, turning to look at the laughing kid. 

"Oh my god, that's even better. Holy fuck," he softly whispers back. Eren doesn't even pay attention to the fact that he just said a bad word in the face of a six year old - not that it's anything new to Tiegan or a big deal at all. Another laugh bubbles out of his lips. "Like, ten times better. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask."

"I'm gonna find you two," They hear Levi say, but it doesn't really scare them. In fact, it makes the game more exciting. 

"Ok, Tiegan. We need to hide by the stairs and throw poop at him when he comes by." Eren orders, getting up once again with the bag of faux poop. 

"Wait, can't I have my own bag of poop?" Tiegan asks. 

Eren looks around the room for a bag. He immediately spots one atop the table and places it in the young boy's hands. Eren quickly proceeds by placing several pieces of fake poop inside the bag. 

"Do you think we might be overdoing it by throwing poop at him?" Tiegan shyly asks during the process. He's also careful to keep his volume low. 

"If it's Levi, I don't think it really matters," Eren quietly responds. 

He finishes the task and he leads the young boy through the hallway and at the top of the stairs. Levi has yet to appear, but they can clearly hear the man's individual footsteps getting louder as he comes closer and closer to them. 

"That was fake poop. I already know. The jig is up, you brats," he grumpily says. 

Eren and Tiegan look to each other, then to the bag of poop, and then back to each other. They smile and then they shrug, continuing their wait. 

Levi finally appears in their line of sight. At first, his face expresses his strong desire to kill, but once his eyes trail down to the bags of poop in their hands, the expression changes into one with rounder eyes and a tightly shut mouth. Paused in the middle of the steps with one arm on the railing, he shakes his head and he glares at them, saying, "oh no you won't."

And in the way that Eren victoriously smiles back at him screams, "oh...yes we will." 

Tiegan immediately starts howling and Levi is shot straight in the face with poop. After wiping it off, he looks to them and opens his mouth to ask, "what the hell?" but another piece of poop is fired at his face. The next thing he knows, he's barraged by an endless amount of poop, mainly confusing him, but disgusting him at the same time. Levi attempts to dodge the shots but it proves to be a challenge when he almost falls down the stairs. 

"Guys, I need you to stop this right now or else I'm gonna kill you," he says. 

Levi can't stop the laugh from escaping his lips as he utters the threat. The intention of frightening them is entirely wiped off as the two relentlessly continue. 

"Guys...stop," he demands a second time. 

The duo refuse to give up, so he takes a piece of poop from the steps and he throws it back at them. It hits Eren on the leg, but Levi's aim could have been better if it isn't for the poop blocking his vision. 

"I see how it is."

Levi holds back his smile and he takes another piece of shit, throwing it square into Tiegan's beautiful face. The young boy laughs at the struggling man's retaliation. At this point, this can no longer be considered as a prank. It's more of a game where they throw poop at each other. 

"I told you I played dirty," Eren mutters. 

Eventually, the troublesome boys run out of poop to throw. Levi notices it as well, but he doesn't take this as an opportunity to beat them up because he can't deny the fact that he had fun. In fact, the event made his afternoon. They stare at each other, catching their breaths, and taking the time to listen to their pounding heartbeats. 

Only when they begin to look around do they realize the mess that they had done. Poop scatters the walls, poop lies on the floors, poop on the stairs, poop on the railing, and even poop can be found on the ceiling. The scale of their prank is too huge to clean and the reality is about to slap them in the face. 

Eren is the first to make a sound, saying something as he exhales. "Wooowww."

Tiegan suddenly throws the bag on the floor and screams his soul away, a ridiculous expression on his face. Levi and Eren turn to him with astonishment. It's a lengthy scream and the two adults question how the kid was able to gather the air for the feat. They even stare at each other to see if they have an answer to the question, and they end up shrugging their shoulders. When Tiegan finishes screaming, Eren and Levi find themselves laughing, but they aren't exactly sure what or why. 

"Ok, this was a lot of fun - I have to admit," Levi speaks up, climbing the final steps to their level. 

Eren is about to open his mouth to say something, but he should have known better than to lower his guard. Levi pulls a piece of poop from behind him and slaps it right into Eren's face. The brunette's expression as the chunks of poop fall from his exterior isn't one of surprise. He's nodding sheepishly with his lips pressed into a straight line, allowing Levi to have the last laugh. 

"Alright, you got me," he says. Eren surveys the man's laugh. He has never seen Levi genuinely laugh before. The sight of it is quite dazzling in this shaded room. Eren even has to look away. 

"What was this even made out of?" Levi asks. 

"Eren brought in a lot of cardboard and I helped him wet it out and squish it together into poo. He prepared some from home too," Tiegan proudly answers. He throws both of his hands on his lips in order to stifle a giggle.

"Ok then. I guess I see you won this war?" 

Levi raises an eyebrow and he stares at Eren. The brunette stares back with his brightly shining green eyes. It's normally the only feature Levi can pay attention to, but in this special afternoon, he can see the charm behind Eren. It's in the way he holds himself - reckless in his walk with large doses of bravery in his heart. Then and there, in that breathless moment, Levi has decided: he wants him. 

Tiegan can see it in their electric eyes as well. Eren hasn't even answered for a while but Levi doesn't notice, and even if he does, he doesn't care. There's a tiny feeling hinting in this stomach, telling him that this situation is what he's been craving for. Watching the two fills him with warmth and Tiegan can't help but smile. 

Before the silence lasts too long, Eren regains his ability to speak. He breaks their long eye contact as he finds himself in reality once again, digging in his memory for the question Levi asked him earlier. His fear of appearing stupid comes true as he realizes that he doesn't remember the question. 

"Uhm, ok. Alright. Uhhhh," Eren stammers, looking around the room. He quickly finds his inspiration, saying, "I need to clean this up before I go." 

Tiegan almost face-palms. Instead, he bitterly smiles and he clenches his tiny hands into a fist. He's completely forgotten the fact that Eren is as smooth as a newborn dear. Thankfully, Levi plays along, returning back to his original character. 

"Should've thought about that before you decided to start an all-out shit war. Good luck with that," Levi says, redirecting his attention to the mess they're standing in. 

Eren heaves a long and dreadful sigh, a statement of everything he needs to complain about. 

"I need to go fetch the vacuum. I hope you guys have a great afternoon," he says, walking to the closet before anyone gets the chance to say what they want to say. 

Tiegan widens his eyes at Levi, elbowing the man several times before he finally looks at him. Levi narrows his eyes at the little boy as he signals something between him and Eren's walking figure. The man raises his hands to the air cluelessly, unable to decipher the message or figure out why the young boy is suddenly hushed. Tiegan looses his patience and whispers when Eren disappears into the closet, "offer to help him." 

Levi finally puts the pieces together, shaking his head disapprovingly. The look in his eyes is strong enough to knock several cows dead, but Tiegan stands his ground. 

Levi hisses back, "No way in hell am I going to help him."

"Why are you guys still here?" Eren asks, a vacuum in hand. He's walking back from the other side of the hallway. 

Just as the man grabs the young boy in the arm, Tiegan slips away and disappears. Levi looks around to see where the brat has escaped to, but he's suddenly pushed forwards. 

"Oh my god, are you guys actually staying to help me?" He asks, hope in his voice. 

"No-" 

The boy's tiny hands pinch Levi's buns, preventing the man from properly answering Eren's question as a surge of pain runs through his entire body - not that the pinch packed the punch, but because the underhanded move was an utter surprise. Levi glares at Tiegan with venom oozing from his eyes, but the young boy stubbornly stands unaffected. 

"Say yes," he mouths out. 

"Why should I?" 

"Because you want to."

"But I don't."

By the time Levi turns back around, Eren is right in front of him. The brunette had stood there long enough to figure out what's truly going on. 

"You know, if you don't want to help me, you don't have to," he says, weakly smiling. "I mean, I am the idiot responsible for this mess so I should be cleaning this up on my own."

Eren places the vacuum on the floor and he unwinds the long chord, walking into a room with a plug in his hand. Now the answer is entirely up to Levi. As the man makes his decision, he ignores the glare from Tiegan, but the kid is also tugging at his shirt and it's awfully annoying. The guilt of leaving Eren to clean up the mess alone would be too much for him to handle. 

Just as Eren steps back into the hall, Levi declares, "Alright. We'll stay and help." 

*

An hour later, they finally finish cleaning up and are heading to their cars, chatting about what they're gonna do once they make it home. The sky is a dark, dark blue and purple sits at the cliff of the atmosphere with lingering streaks of pinks and oranges. It's a clear night and a crescent moon stands as the king of the vast expanse of stars. 

"Thanks for helping me out," says Eren, unfolding his sleeves before the material becomes too wrinkly. 

Somehow, someway, he feels more self-conscious of what to say around Levi. They aren't as causal as before and Eren can't decide whether it's a good or a bad change. Something special happened back there and Eren isn't sure what it is. He's confused and the worst part about it is he's too tired to care. 

Levi sighs. "It was no problem," he responds. He was about to go for a bitter tone but he takes note of Tiegan standing besides him. 

"But I had a lot of fun. Does that mean that Eren wins the pranking war?" Tiegan asks. 

Out of all the stars, the ones that can be found in Tiegan's eyes shine the brightest. The amount of energy that this kid has in his tank is inhuman but it's enough to keep the air full of life. 

Levi snorts before answering, "I don't know. I'm not even sure what to do after a fight like that. 'Oh, we were throwing shit at each other.' Yeah, that sounds about right."

"I should have recorded your reaction to when you were freaking out about the poop that landed on your hand. God, that was funny," Eren says, laughing to himself. 

"What? Why didn't you think about that earlier?" Tiegan asks. 

His loud voice echoes throughout the parking lot and Levi isn't sure whether he should shush the kid or talk louder just so that it's no longer as quiet as it is. They reach their cars, parked two spots away from each other. 

"Alright. You two have a good night," Eren says as he steps inside. 

"Hold on."

Eren turns around to find Levi walking towards him, a phone in hand. 

"What is it?" 

Eren heaves out an exaggerated sigh and Levi narrows his eyes playfully. 

"You saved my number, right?" He asks. 

"No. I didn't think I'd need it." 

"Alright. Here, my phone. Enter your number and I'll text you. Save me in your contacts," he instructs. 

"Got it. Your last name is Ackerman, am I right?" 

"Yeah. I never really learned your last name."

"It's Jaeger. Eren Jaeger. I know, it's weird," Eren answers. 

Eren types his contact information inside the man's phone, writing his first and last name down as well. The brunette tries to appear not as awkward as he feels. After all, Levi is asking for his phone number which implies that Levi wants to be able to talk to him later on. He hands it back to the man, who looks at the name before saving it in his contacts.

"Eren Jaeger..." 

Eren angles his head downwards in hopes of hiding the blush powdering his cheeks. The way that Levi pronounced his name, the way it rolled off his tongue...it was quite sexy. Eren thanks the almighty being that the man was too occupied with his phone to pay attention. 

Levi meets Eren in the eyes a final time. 

"See ya later then," he says, turning around. 

*

Eren slams the door behind him, lazily taking off his shoes without undoing his laces, then taking off his clothing and throwing them in the hamper. Mikasa's voice can be heard singing in the shower. In his underwear, he flops onto the couch and pulls a pillow close. He stuffs his face in the plushy material and groans. 

"What's with you?" His sister asks in the echoey shower walls. 

Eren swears Mikasa has secret superpowers. Otherwise, she wouldn't have heard him groan in the pillow. Nobody within two feet would have heard him groan in the pillow. 

Eren lifts his head and an assortment of groans escapes his lips, a grimace spreading across his face. 

"Nothing. Perfectly fine," he weakly responds. 

Of course, this answer is far from the truth. His entire body is sore since he hasn't done any rigorous physical activity in a long time and acid is beginning to form inside his muscles. Also, he had just given his number to Levi, a guy who's too attractive not to have a crush on. His mind is a complete mess and everything is far from fine - only that he's too tired to say what he truly means. 

Mikasa shortly finishes the shower. She wipes herself dry and dons her pajamas, wrapping her hair in a towel before stepping out of the bathroom. Seeing Eren lying on his belly, defeated on the couch doesn't surprise her, given the way he responded to her earlier. 

"I'm asking again. What's with you?" 

It takes a while for Eren to lift his head from the pillow once again. When he does, he doesn't face his sister. With tightly-shut eyes, his face is still towards his pillow. 

"Nothing is wrong with me," he groans. "I'm just really tired."

"Really tired?"

The brunette finally turns his head and pries his eyes open. He can't believe his sister is starting this questionnaire just when he's in the middle of groaning about his existence. No, it's not a questionnaire. It's more like an interrogation where she doesn't believe a word he says until she gets the answer she wants. Eren tries to look at her with his best, "are you bullshitting me?" face.

"I'm tired as shit," he answers. 

Mikasa nods as she understands, sitting on the love seat and propping her elbow on the chair rest. She places her chin on the palm of her hand as if she genuinely cares for what her brother has to say. 

"And why is it that you're tired as shit? You came home later than you normally do."

Eren drops his head back on the pillow, making sure that he's lying on the side so that his speaking won't be muffled. 

"Why do I have to answer your annoying questions? Why can't you just let me sleep? Why don't you understand that your own brother is dying?" He fires back, but it has no effect on Mikasa. She rolls her eyes at his dramatic rant. 

"I'm just asking because...you know...I want to know. I'm your sister and I'm living with you and you kinda came home late...so I wanna know. If you came any later than now, I would have started panicking. Besides, I have the right," she answers smugly. 

"You're being really annoying right now and for that reason, I have the right to remain silent."

Eren stuffs his face in the pillow once again, hoping that his sister would leave him alone and he'd get some decent sleep for once. 

"Ok, so it's Levi...I see," she says. 

Eren's head immediately jerks up from the pillow to look at what she's talking about. There, his phone is held in her hands and she's swiping through the bright screen. 

"What the hell?"

Eren immediately pushes himself up and jumps out of the couch. In mere seconds, his phone is no longer in the hands of despicable Mikasa. He holds his phone close to his chest and hisses at his sister. She pouts and petulantly crosses her arms. 

"I haven't seen that contact before. Ooh, maybe you two were on a date today. If you were late for that reason, then you could have told me so," she says, smiling at him. 

Eren's expression deadens. 

'Why is she teasing me like this?'

"One, you're not supposed to go through my phone without my permission because you're being an asshole. Two, I didn't tell you because I wasn't on a fucking date," he answers, counting off his points with his fingers. His arm drops to the side and he gets into his original position once again, tucking his phone underneath his pillow. 

"But you should ask him on a date. I mean, look at you. You're blushing at the sound of his name and I think it's absolutely adorable. Be brave, Eren. It won't hurt," she suggests. 

Eren's fingers touch upon his cheeks, checking to see if it's true. And it is. He hasn't realized it before, but he's blushing. It's quite humiliating that it took Mikasa pointing it out for him to notice. Eren curses underneath his breath for being too damn transparent. 

"I don't want to go. If I were Levi, I wouldn't want to go on a date with a piece of trash like me," Eren answers solemnly. Hearing himself say something self-deprecating makes him want to cry. It also makes Mikasa want to punch her idiot brother in the face. 

"No, but you're not Levi. You hardly know him, so you wouldn't know whether he'd want to go on a date with you," she responds. 

"See, that's exactly why. I don't want to go on a date with a man I hardly know. What would I say? What would we do? How is it going to turn out? I won't know unless I have a basic idea of the kind of person he is. Sure, he's an asshole, but I don't think we could strike an amiable conversation with just that piece of information," he retorts. 

Mikasa rolls her eyes at her brother's cowardice. Most of it is due to the fact that he overthinks situations and yes, she tends to do so sometimes, but in his case, he's doing it to talk himself out of something amazing or to find an excuse. 

"Be brave. Try something new. C'mon, Eren. You can't just stay like this forever," she presses. 

Eren doesn't answer for a while and a long moment of silence settles between the two. For Mikasa, it's an unpleasant wait because she's impatient and is dying for her brother to state his approval. Eren is figuring the weight of each decision. Eventually, he heaves a long sigh and weakly laughs.

"You're mirroring mother's words," he says. 

Mikasa smiles, relieved with her brother's response. 

"Do you want me to leave you alone now?" She asks, scratching the back of her head. 

Eren shakes his head.

"You can stay, just as long as you're not loud," he answers. 

Eren stuffs his face into the pillow once again. 

*

With his eyes glued to the screen, Levi pulls his legs close to his chest and wraps his arms around them. He places a piece of popcorn in his mouth and slowly chews it, savoring the buttery flavor as he watches the scene build in suspense. The entire show has Levi lost in it's plot since the very beginning. Tiegan sits beside him, a remote at hand and a devilish plan in mind. He looks at Levi to check if his guard is lowered. Then, he presses the power button and turns the tv off. The entire room plunges into darkness. 

"Tiegan, what the hell? Give me the remote back you little brat."

Tiegan immediately jumps off of the couch, the adrenaline causing him to smile, and run as fast as his little feet can. The child is careful not to collide into any furniture or break any of Levi's belongings as he makes his way to the light switch. Levi is too busy looking for the kid on the couch, cursing under his breath and running his hands through the seats until he finds out it's too late. He is just about to get up and search for Tiegan when the young boy flicks the switch. The entire room is lit and Tiegan is spot on the other side with a smug look on his face. 

"You!" the man hisses, glaring at the young boy with as much disdain as he can possibly muster. 

Tiegan's smile turns into a bubbly giggle. Levi's reaction is quite humorous and in the way he's stumbling to get out of the couch is something the kid had never seen before. Watching the man struggle is quite new and Tiegan he likes it. 

"You enjoy making a fool out of me, don't you?" Levi asks. 

Tiegan nods and holds back his laughter. The man picks himself up and walks over to the child. He yanks the remote from his hands and falls back onto the couch. Holding the remote in front of him, he presses the power button, but the TV doesn't turn on. 

Levi turns to Tiegan, not entertained. 

"Where's the batteries?" He inquires. 

The young boy takes his clenched hand, which has been hiding behind him, out to his front, where Levi can clearly see. He opens his hand to reveal the batteries. Levi rolls his eyes. Now he's starting to feel the real twinge of annoyance. 

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to talk to you about something."

Levi sighs once he realizes what this entire episode is about. He can't believe this child is putting him through all the trouble just to...

"Someone, huh? We're gonna talk about Eren, aren't we?" 

Tiegan knowingly smiles at Levi and nods. He places the batteries in his underwear so that they're inaccessible to the man and any attempts at snatching them away will make him look like a child molester. Levi glares at the child like a hawk on his entire way back to his seat. 

"Ok, so you should ask him out to a date," Tiegan suggests. 

Levi laughs and slaps himself on the knee at the thought of asking Eren out on a date. Then, it dies off when he realizes that Tiegan is staring at him as if he's the mature adult around - not that the fact is entirely false. 

"Wait you're serious," Levi says, pausing, and then freaking out. "Why? Why do I have to?" 

"Because you obviously have feelings for him." 

Levi crosses his arms and sighs, leaning back on the couch as the argument ensues. 

"Just because I asked for his phone number doesn't mean I have feelings for him. It means that I want his phone number," he defends. Levi can't believe he's arguing with a six year old and the six year old is winning - not that he's willing to admit it. 

"But you normally don't ask for people's phone numbers. Yeah, you have a lot of people in your contacts, but those are your friends. Not guys that you're genuinely interested in, such as Eren," the young boy insists before asking, "Why are you so against him? Why can't you be honest with yourself? Eren is a really cool guy and I can really tell that you like him, Levi." 

A blush creeps on the man's cheeks and it catches him off guard. Blushes rarely make an appearance on his porcelain complexion and when it does, it's for meaningful reasons. He damns himself for allowing his feelings to show through and he looks at Tiegan. The young boy raises a questioning brow. This causes the man to bury his face in his hands. 

"Is it really obvious? Is it that noticeable?" 

His question is muffled by his hands but Tiegan understands. 

"Yes. It's very obvious and people can only tell when they see the two of you together. I think I'm the only one who saw you guys around each other, so I don't know what your friends think. Daddy doesn't even know anything yet."

Levi pulls his face out of his hands and groans. 

"I know!"

His bangs are strewn all over the place and his face is still as red as a tomato. Never has Tiegan seen Levi at this level of frustration before - The composed, stoic, and hard-working Levi is reduced to this blushing mess and the young boy is astounded that he's here to witness the man's breakdown. It would be entertaining if Tiegan wasn't so frightened for his friend. 

"You're six. I'm talking to a six year old about love. This is absolutely amazing," Levi says with hysteria laced around his voice, but he manages to calm himself down by taking deep breaths. 

The young boy can't hide the sting caused by the comment, but he's putting forth great effort at placing himself in Levi's shoes in order to better understand him. He doesn't allow himself to be hurt by what Levi just said. 

"Yeah."

"Sorry. I just..."

Levi removes his hands from his face, staring at the young boy with deep regret in his sharp eyes. They're habitually steel grey, but this time, emotions can be seen stirring around his irises, like clouds in a storm. Now if Eren isn't enough already, something to pile on top of his shame is the fact that he's exposing his vulnerable side to a child. 

Tiegan takes Levi's phone from the coffee table and holds it in front of the man. 

"What are you making me do with my phone?" Levi asks. 

"Ask him out on a date. Maybe a movie date, or a dinner date, or maybe you guys can sit down and marathon with some movies you have in here," Tiegan suggests. 

"I only have Disney movies."

They were given to him by his mother, who was a Disney fanatic - and to be specific, it's an entire shelf of Disney Princess movies, not that it would have any significant impact on his masculinity. 

"That's even better. It might start a good conversation about your childhoods and you guys could get to know each other better."

Levi's motivation returns and it helps him overcome his pathetic, middle-school state of mind. He takes the phone in his hands and smiles at Tiegan as an expression of gratitude. He sweetly smiles back to say, 'your welcome.'

"Hey, I'm gonna ask you to be with me because Eren wouldn't go to a house that belongs to a person he hardly knows," Levi notifies right before he dials the number. 

The young boy nods in agreement. 

Levi calms himself down before dialing the number. It doesn't take long for Eren to pick up the call. 

"Hey, is this Eren?" 

With his superb acting skills, Levi keeps a flat and unemotional tone, successfully pulling off a normal demeanor - one that's surely familiar to Eren by now. Tiegan watches Levi with wonder tracing the edges of his irises. He's no longer sure whether Levi is still acting or he's truly calm, but one thing is for sure: Tiegan's acting skills were inspired by this man. 

"No, this is Mikasa," a female voice answers. 

Levi furrows his eyebrows and since the call is in speaker mode, Tiegan is able to hear the woman's voice loud and clear. 

"I'm his girlfriend," she adds. 

Levi almost drops the phone and Tiegan's smile turns into a bewildered and distasteful sulk. 

* 

"Mikasa? Who the hell are you talking to?" Eren shouts, making his voice loud enough to be heard through the jet-like downpour. 

Fog rises in the bathroom and the mirrors are blanketed with a thin layer of tiny water droplets. Eren prefers to take long showers with water hot enough to burn through his skin, but instead of enjoying the time by himself, he's thinking about how he should have changed the lock in his phone before stepping inside the shower and leaving it out there with his mischievous sister. 

"I'm his girlfriend," he hears her say. 

At the sound of her uttering the line, Eren is immediately able to deduce who she's talking to. Every person entered in his contacts are well-aware that Mikasa is his sister - all of which except for Levi. If he continues standing there, then she'll talk on and on, and the outcome is guaranteed to be one that's anything but good. 

"If you fucking say anything else you damn asshole, I'm gonna fucking kill you in your sleep," Eren roars, loud enough to be clearly heard by his neighbors. 

"Jesus fucking Christ, I was just kidding," she hollers back. Mikasa lowers the intensity of her voice before she continues talking to a horrified Levi who's possibly contemplating over hanging up or staying on the line. "I'm not actually his girlfriend. I'm just his sister and I find joy in messing with him. Anyway, he's totally got the hots for you." 

At this point, Mikasa and Eren will be titled as the loudest house in the block - and in a neighborhood of old people in the midst of retirement, it will not follow with any positive responses. 

Unlike his sister, he doesn't possess any uncanny abilities or the ability to listen very well, so he misses the part where she lowers her voice to talk to him. Mikasa has crossed the line when she proclaimed that she was Eren's girlfriend. Now, she's dancing to show it all off and it sends Eren to a mountainous level of 'pissed off' that he can barely keep under control. 

He turns the shower off, takes the towel, wraps it around his waistline, and steps out of the bathroom with soap still bubbling between his red toes. No, they're not red because of the heat. They're red because of his anger, and can only show a small portion of how strong he truly feels. Eren is livid. 

Yes, his toes may be red, but nothing can beat the red on his face when Mikasa turns away from her conversation on the phone to look at him. 

"So I turn my back for one second, and you do that to me? Seriously, Mikasa? Are you seriously shitting me right now?" Eren asks, squeezing every ounce of self-control he has in order to keep himself from killing her. 

"Well, you left it here and it started ringing so I did the kind thing and picked it up for you," she casually responds, as if she doesn't see her brother that's clearly seething with anger. "And I was joking. I did tell him that I'm not your girlfriend and cleared things up."

Eren closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He places a hand between him and his sister as he does so. As a child, Eren suffered from anger issues and learned many ways of calming himself down. Mikasa pats her brother on the head and he immediately rips her hand away. When he opens his eyes, a wild and beautiful smile can be seen on her face, making him want to smile as well. Of course, he continues frowning because he's supposed to stay angry at her. Mikasa knows that her smile affected his brother, though. 

"Just give me the phone," he says. 

His sister places it in his hands and walks away, giving him a suggestive look as she does so. When he's finally alone, he shakes the remaining pieces of chagrin away before he clears his throat in preparation. Just as he opens his mouth to greet Levi, the man on the other end speaks. 

"What the hell was that?" He asks. 

Eren takes another deep breath. 

"That was me fighting with Mikasa. She's my annoying sister sister," Eren answers. 

"She sounds like a person I want to party with."

"She doesn't like parties. Or hanging out people in general. She just likes messing with me."

"Oh."

Eren immediately cuts to the chase, swiftly changing the topic like cards on his hand. 

"So why did you call me?" He asks, a tinge of hope in his voice. 

"I called you because I want to ask you out on a date," he bluntly answers. 

A mad blush immediately spreads across his face. He swears, he can feel some smoke coming from his cheeks because he can't possibly be at this shade of red so quickly. Eren can't help but laugh. 

"So what's the date gonna be about?" 

Now, a smile is tugging at both ends of his lips. 

"It's not really gonna be a date. Tiegan's gonna be here as well. The three of us are just gonna hang out in my place, sit down, and watch Disney movies."

The smile spreads from ear to ear. Mikasa, peeking from the corner to witness the entire event, can see her brother silently celebrating by throwing his fist in the air and shaking his other hand uncontrollably. A tingling sense of excitement is already growing from the mere sound of the idea. He wants to jump and he wants to scream, but he can't without revealing how much of a loser he is.

"When?"

Eren attempts to conceal the fact that he had a mini celebration, but he isn't so successful.

"Tomorrow afternoon. I'm gonna pick Tiegan up tomorrow as well, so you can just come with us when you're leaving the building," he says. 

"Ok. I'm gonna go. I'll take note of it," Eren says. 

"Alright. I have to go now. Erwin is here, bye."

Floating far away from reality, Eren is incapable of properly responding, and Levi is waiting for a response. The brunette manages to move his lips into saying something and he's pretty sure that it's a weak "goodbye." But by the time he realizes it, Levi already finished the call. 

Eren turns around to find his sister emerging from the corner. 

"Do my ears deceive me?" She says overdramatically as she heads to her brother's side. 

"No, your ears don't deceive you," he answers, magically finding his voice. He takes both of Mikasa's hands in his, crossing them with each other. 

"He just asked me out on a date. Kind of. Tiegan's gonna be there and we're gonna be watching Disney movies," he announces. 

He joyfully squeals and Mikasa joins in. His happiness is her happiness. The two jump up and down, squealing as loud as they can, and they shake their heads until they're dizzy. They look in each other's crazed eyes with bangs messily flopped atop, a wild, open-mouthed smile playing on their lips. Mikasa suddenly pulls him close into a hug. 

"I'm so happy for you!" She says.

"Ok, ok. Let's stop now. It's not that big of a deal that he asked me out on a date," he says, pulling her away. He's smiling, but at the sound of the line, Mikasa petulantly frowns. 

"Whatever, but if he's asking you out on a date-"

"Somewhat of a date," he corrects, making her roll her eyes. 

"Well, 'somewhat of a date' then that means he's interested in you. I mean, is he the kind of guy that would spend time and energy on a person he doesn't care about?" 

Eren proudly shakes his head. 

"He changes the more you get to know him," he adds. 

"I'm glad if you're glad. Keep that in mind," she says. 

"I already know that. Same goes for me." 

They stare at each other a little longer. Mikasa's eyes shine with pride while Eren's eyes shine with joy and anticipation. 

"Alrighty then," she flashes a smile before she gives his shoulders a squeeze. 

Mikasa slowly drops her arms to the side and backs up to the stairs with one hand on the railing. 

"Are you still going to sleep on the couch?" she asks. 

Eren rolls his eyes. 

"I know. I just stood up and went to the shower, but yeah. I'm still gonna sleep there," he answers. He faintly laughs, but it's quickly taken over by a smile. 

"Ok. I'm just gonna stay upstairs then." 

"G'night, Mikasa."

"Night to you too, Eren."

*

For the first time in his entire life, Eren finds an exciting reason to get out of bed and look forward to work. When he meets Mikasa over the breakfast table, she is shocked to see a wide smile on his face. Then, she realizes that he's expected to go on a date this afternoon and she's brimming with happiness. 

Eren is currently daydreaming with his chin resting upon the palm of his hands. Tiegan approaches Eren to ask, "Are you excited for your date with Levi?"

The brunette blushes and hides his face with his hand, shooing the boy away with his other. Yes, other staff members have noticed his sudden change in behavior, but have been quiet about the questions they have for him. Now that he's speaking about it to Tiegan, they all secretly tune their ears into the conversation. 

"Oh my god, please don't ask me about something like that," he answers. 

"It's ok to be nervous. Well, Levi is as cool as a cucumber, but before he asked you out, he kept talking about how the date could go horribly wrong."

Eren places his hands back on the counter, dismount from his fancy chair, and navigates around the counter so that he could speak a little personally with the child. Once standing in front of Tiegan, he lowers himself to the kid's level and he leans forwards. A beautiful smile is spread across Eren's face. 

"So, what was he worrying about?" Eren whispers. 

The eavesdropping staff members lose interests, piecing together the answers to their questions - which all asks why he is in such a happy mood for the day. 

"Oh, he worried about you not coming over because of your possible fear of being alone with him, a stranger that you hardly know," Tiegan whispers back. 

"That makes sense. What else?"

Tiegan holds back a laugh as he says, "He was very insecure about the Disney princess movies in his shelf. He thought that you wouldn't like it."

"No, I love the Disney princesses," Eren responds, quickly adding, "But what if I can't find something to say? What if I end up being too awkward about it?"

"Just roll with it. And if you really need help, I'll jump to the rescue," he says. 

"Ok, but what if he's gonna force me to do something I'm uncomfortable with doing?" 

"He'll stop. Levi respects people's boundaries. If he does make you do something you don't want to do, then I'll tell my daddy. He works for the government."

Eren is about to tell him that that wasn't how things work, but he holds himself back. He closes his mouth and then reopens them to say, "Alright. I'm already looking forward to the date, but I'm afraid of just messing it up for the both of us, you know?"

"It's not actually a date. I'm still gonna be there with you. Well, until my daddy picks me up."

"Does he pick you up at a late time?" Eren asks. 

"Usually when the both of us are asleep," he answers. 

"Alright. Go! You should be having fun with your friends, not talking about the date that I'm gonna have with Levi," Eren says.

"Ok. I don't mind talking about it, though. Whenever it's about Levi, your face gets really cute and I don't think you realize that," he says before he smiles and adds, "but bye. I hope you have fun with your job as well." 

The child runs outside and Eren swoons over his cuteness. 

He heads back to the counter and pretends to watch over the children. Really, he's thinking about Levi and he's excited to talk to him once again. He doesn't even think about picking up his phone.

*

"Wait, you texted me?" Eren asks, turning off airplane mode in his phone. 

He reads a single text notification on the screen, saying it's from Levi. 

"It just says hey."

Levi rolls his eyes and raises his arms before slapping them back to his thighs.The temperature is colder than the average afternoon, with color slowly blotting itself on the green trees and the leaves cascading to the ground. Eren looks around to spot some leaves collecting themselves on the sides of buildings. With Tiegan walking in front of them, they're crossing the parking lot and to their cars. Levi always seem to park his right besides Eren's. 

"Well, yeah, duh. You were supposed to text back. It's called starting a conversation," he sarcastically responds. 

Eren is slowly getting used to Levi's sharp sarcasm. 

"There's this thing called being nice too. I think you should try it sometime," Eren shoots back. Levi turns away from the view in front of him to narrow his eyes at Eren, who playfully shrugs. 

"Also, I don't text a lot," he adds. 

"I get that, given the fact that you have your mom, your sister, your blonde friend, and your dad as the only contacts saved in your phone," he says. 

"Hey, there's you too. Now I have five people in my contacts."

"And myself. Yep."

Tiegan turns around and speaks up with his tiny voice. 

"Well, you really don't have room to say that. You don't talk to anybody else except for Erwin and Hanji. You only talk to Petra, Mike, and Nanaba when you need to. Erd, Gunther, and Mr. Bossard - you don't even talk to them anymore."

Levi sharply directs his glare at the child, who blows a raspberry at him. 

"Call 911! I think somebody here just got burned!" Eren calls, which causes him to get punched in the arm by Levi. It stings, but Eren knows that Levi is simply playing around. 

"I'm texting you my address, if you wanna enter that into your gps. But if you don't wanna do that, you better make sure that you're doing a good job following us," Levi calmly instructs. 

His phone dings and Eren opens another text sent by Levi. If he didn't have a choice, then he would definitely use the gps, but the man in that contraption annoys the hell out of him. Eren chooses the latter of his options. He nods as he stares at his phone. 

"I'm just gonna follow you," he answers. 

"Good. There aren't many cars out in the streets anyways. Especially in the afternoons," he says. 

Eren smiles at Levi a final time and he steps inside his car while Levi waits until Tiegan is buckled up in his seat before backing up and driving away. Eren easily follows, and with the slow speed limit, it isn't difficult for him to keep up. 

Since the community is tight-knit, he's familiar with the roads he drives on. The sky is bursting with colors, a wondrous variation of dark-blues, purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows mixing together. Clouds are hardly present, but the ones that exist carries the color of the sky behind their backs. 

Eren sighs at this relaxing scene. 

As the light permeates through his windows, it seems as if it's staining his leather seats. Even the sun looks like it's enjoying itself in the instances he glances at his mirrors. 

The two cars arrive at Levi's apartment building. He takes a step outside and he's immediately embraced by Tiegan. 

"Yes! We're finally here! I can't wait to watch movies with you! Like, I watch movies with Levi a lot, but it's about time we have someone else to join in with us," he says. 

"He's only saying that because he doesn't like to keep up with the Kardashians," Levi comments, twirling his keys in his hands. Other than their voices, the metallic jingle is the loudest thing that can be heard in the entire vicinity. Tiegan drags Eren to the front steps. 

"Wow, it's awfully quiet here."

"Yeah. The landlord has always been into some sort of financial crisis and not a lot of people want to live here because of that. I know him, though. And I have enough trust in that bastard to not get this place leveled by a construction crew that wants to put a gas station or grocery store in here," he says. 

Levi possesses a large collection of keys and Eren watches with amazement as he swiftly picks out the one for his apartment room. The man jabs it into the doorknob, unlocking the door and opening it for his guests. Tiegan jumps inside, pulling Eren along. 

"Levi doesn't really like inviting people over because he doesn't like it when people touch his stuff or move them around, but maybe he'll be fine with you. He's fine when Daddy does it," he hastens to say. His voice is blanketed with more enthusiasm - not that he minds witnessing this side of him.

Eren takes off his shoes and holds them up before it touches other parts of Levi's pristine floors. 

"Levi, where do I place these?" 

He closes the door behind him and points at the door. 

"Just lay them down over there. That place is fine," he answers. 

As Eren places his shoes in front of the door, he can't help but feel all eyes on him. When he turns around to face them, his premonition doesn't miss. With the addition of him in Levi's home, it's more silent, but the the air holds this unmistakeable taste of giddiness that's bubbling from the excitement of a new visitor. The same feeling goes for him. It's his first time in a long time visiting a person's house other than his parent's of Armin's. 

"Sorry if we're creeping you out a bit. We're just really happy and we don't really know what to do after this," Tiegan admits. 

Levi sighs and attempts to maintain a calm appearance. He facepalms after Tiegan's statement, questioning himself, 'Why the kid would even say that?' When he looks at the young boy, signs of nervousness are evident in his features. Levi's shame subsides as understanding stands in it's place. 

"Alright. I just need to change a bit,"he says. 

Levi takes off his shoes and heads to his room. Right after he closes the door, Tiegan whispers. 

"Normally, he walks around with his grey sweatpants and that's it. He doesn't put his shirt on at all."

Eren eyes immediately widen. If he is like any of those perverted anime characters he relates to, then he would fall backwards with his nose bleeding gallons of blood, the thought of Levi - muscular, handsome, and well proportioned - walking around his room without a shirt on. 

"Why would you tell me something like that?" Eren harshly whispers back. Now that he has the thought in his head, he'll start hoping for a shirtless Levi to walk out of his room. If Levi doesn't - which is the likely choice - then the thought is gonna be stuck in his head throughout the entire date. 

"Look, you're blushing!" The mischievous boy says, pointing at Eren's face. 

The brunette is quick to cup his face. He feels around if its's true, and it is. 

Levi walks out of his room with sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt. The material loosely fits him, but it's also skinny enough for Eren to see through and get a good look at his abs. Eren shakes his head and turns away. Out of all times, he chooses to exit the room when he's blushing and weak in the knees.

'No, not at his abs. Definitely not his abs. He's gonna kill me with his beauty.' 

At the sight of Eren flustered, Levi raises his eyebrows and looks to Tiegan for answers. The young boy shrugs, but it only makes the man more suspicious. 

"What did you say to him?" Levi asks, pointing at Eren. 

"Nothing."

"Oh really?"

Tiegan is easily amused by Levi's skeptical expression and the young boy struggles to hold back his laugh. Eren, not wanting to draw the conversation out any longer, cuts in.

"He didn't say anything. I was telling him something I was thinking about."

Levi steps towards Eren.

"Alright, then what did you say to him? I know it's about me because you're blushing."

Eren takes a couple steps away away from Levi since he's getting too close for comfort. He makes sure that his face remains unreadable, despite the fact that his efforts are futile. Levi is the kind of person to understand a person just by looking into their eyes. Eren is easily included as those people Levi can read through, but he stands strong and he stares back, unwavering. 

"I don't have to tell you," he says. 

Levi stares at him a while longer, trying to see if he can find out what Eren said through his beautiful, shimmering, green eyes. In the meantime, Eren is struggling to keep his eyes fixed on Levi's. The man's irises are a painfully sharp color, one that cuts through his soul to search for what's inside. Even when he hasn't said anything, Eren is peeved that he still feels vulnerable and opened.

The pressure between the two increases as well as Eren's discomfort level. He wants to say something, anything that could get this to stop. Then, it all builds up to a point where he can't remain silent any longer and just as he opens his mouth, Levi opens his to talk. 

"You know, whatever color your eyes are, it's officially my favorite," he says, smiling. 

Tiegan holds his chest and exhales, realizing that he stopped breathing for a moment. Levi ends their stare-down and he heads to the living room, falling into the couch. Eren follows and sits at a safe distance beside him. Tiegan sits on the floor, not wanting to intrude on the romance that could possibly take place. 

"Which Disney movie are we gonna watch?" Eren asks. 

Levi sighs as he pushes himself off of the couch and stands up. 

"They're all in my room, but I'm an idiot and I forgot to bright them with me," he says. 

"Way to go," Eren congratulates sarcastically, giving the man a thumbs up. Levi rolls his eyes as he trudges back into the room. 

The impatient young boy claps his hands. 

"C'mon, Levi. Before we know it, daddy's gonna be here to pick me up. Also, get Sleeping Beauty please," he demands. 

Levi walks back out of his room with the cd case in his hand, but the cover doesn't show the sleeping beauty at all. Instead, it spells 'Mulan' with gigantic letters. 

"Oh my god, I love Mulan," Eren says. 

"Yeah, Mulan is my favorite princess - well, she's technically not a princess, but whatever," Levi adds. 

When the two look at Tiegan for approval, the kid shrugs. 

"Yeah, I guess Mulan is okay."

Levi rolls his eyes at the kids reaction and smiles. 

"Mulan is not okay. She's amazing," Eren argues. 

Tiegan turns around to give the brunette a judgmental stare. Eren figures that the young boy is being playful so he stares back with more fire and animosity in his eyes.

"Well, I think Mulan is ok because she's ok. A princess that I like better is Tiana," he says. 

Eren narrows his eyes at the kid, but just as he opens his mouth to express his opinion, the CD loudly starts playing in the screen, starting off with trailers for movies that showed a long time ago. Eren is stricken with a wave of nostalgia by just watching them. He remembered watching these movies as a child. 

Levi turns off the lights and heads back to the couch, sitting closer than the safe distance Eren had set up. 

Once the trailers finishes, Mulan start playing. Eren taps Tiegan's shoulder and signals for him to sit on the couch. It would be awful if the kid has to sit his butt on the hard floor the entire time. By the end of the movie, he would be suffering from aches. Instead, Tiegan shakes his head and pulls his legs close to his chest, holding them tight. 

*

The three make it to the part of the movie where Mulan meets the buff, Chinese army captain, who's charming his entire army with his amazing muscles and fantastic looks. When Eren realizes that he's paying more attention to the attractive Li Shang more than anybody, he figures that in the scale of sexualities, he's leaning more to the gay side than he initially thought. In fact, he even figures out that in all of the times he's watched Mulan, he's been looking at Li Shang the entire time. 

Levi's arm is draped over the couch cushions, but Eren is sitting too far to be wrapped around in them. He's presented with a choice of scooting closer or staying where he is, but he doesn't have the brave hands to gather his guts and do what he wants to do. In his battle, he chooses to stay where he is and he's killing himself with guilt for not being brave enough. 

A rapping on the door causes Eren to jump in his seat. It's late at night and nobody had been talking or producing any sounds until someone knocked on that door. It anchors Eren back to reality, where he prefers to stay away from at this current moment. After all, Levi sitting besides him is causing his heart to do all sorts of acrobatics. 

Tiegan gets up to open the door while Levi pauses the movie and turns on the light. Standing on the threshold is a tall man with blonde hair and electric blue eyes, the same characteristics he shares with his son. It's Erwin, but Eren can hardly recognize the man in his disheveled state. 

"Daddy! Yay I'm so glad you're here! We're watching Mulan with Levi's boyfriend, Eren. Can I stay here a little longer to finish watching it with them?" He asks. 

Erwin steps inside and Tiegan closes the door for him, following his father around like a puppy. The man looks back and forth between Eren and Levi. Erwin isn't used to Eren's presence in the house, nor was he informed about his relationship with Levi. He raises his eyebrow and narrows his eyes as he attempts to figure out what's happening. 

Eren blushes and places his face in his hands while Levi strongly reacts to Tiegan's claim by firing back with a rebut. 

"I'm not in a relationship with Eren." 

He pauses. At least, not until soon. The thought of it robs his mouth of words and an awkward silence settler between everybody. 

As usual, Tiegan cuts it with his jovial attitude. 

"So dad! Do you think we can stay a little bit - somewhere around twenty minutes - and watch the movie? We can also eat together. This will be a lot of fun," he says.

Erwin tears his attention away from his stammering friend and looks to his son, gently smiling. Levi slowly turns to Eren who's frozen on the couch, both their cheeks are aflame. 

"I'm sorry. I'm starving and I already brought some food for us. It's waiting in the car," he says.

Tiegan stares at his father for several moments in silence. The young boy forces himself to smile understandably. Yes, he understands very, very well. He nods to himself. However, he's a little disappointed that he can't hang out with Eren and Levi a little longer. 

Erwin suggestively flicks his eyes towards Eren and Levi, making sure that his son has the right idea. Tiegan nods once again, assuring his father that he's gotten the memo. 

"Alright. That's fine. What did you get us?" The young boy asks, a flicker of hope in his eyes. 

"Oh, I got us some Popeyes," the father proudly answers.

The young boy's eyes light up and he jumps to wrap his arms around his father. Erwin returns the hug, pulling Tiegan close for a hearty embrace. Eren stares at the heartfelt father-son moment and wonders if they do this all the time. 

Suddenly, Levi's voice cuts in, ruining the moment. 

"Are you guys gonna be finished soon or?" 

"Alright. We're gonna leave now," Erwin says, winking at Levi to suggest the real reason why they're leaving.

The only sort of reaction Levi allows him to see is a roll of his eyes. Eren catches Erwin's wink as well and he returns to stuffing his face in a pillow in hopes of rubbing the embarrassment off of his cheeks. It only he isn't officially alone with Levi in his house...at night, he would probably scream in his pillow from excitement, horror, or both. 

Levi bids his farewells and Eren mutters own muffled goodbyes before the father-son duo leaves. Once he hears Levi's returning to the living room, he lifts his head from the pillow and smiles at the man. 

"So, do you want to finish watching the movie or do you want to leave to avoid extreme awkwardness?" Levi asks. 

Despite Eren's tendency to get into awkward moments and his inability to ever initiate, or successfully have a conversation, he easily says yes. Somehow, someway, the knowledge of his struggles are immediately drowned in the spur of the moment. Levi stares at him a little longer to make sure that Eren means his answer and from the way Eren absentmindedly stares back, he plays the movie. 

The two snuggle up in their positions, not too far away, but not too close either. One thing is for sure, the two are more conscious of each other rather than the movie. 

*

"Wow, that took me right back to memory lane."

Eren stands from the couch and stretches himself backwards. Speaking of memory lane, stretching his back reminds him of his mother and the way she constantly pestered him about his sitting positions. It never mattered to him, though. Putting Mulan and sitting positions together, he specifically remembers how he was scolded for sitting awfully throughout the entire movie - not that that matters either. 

By then, Eren is spacing out. All of the childhood memories that are somewhat involved with the movie is quickly flooding back to him. Levi simply watches as Eren emptily stares at the black, TV monitor as if it has all the answers to the world. After a while, Levi can't stand to watch Eren's empty expression any loner. He decides to snap the brat back into reality. 

"Hey, Eren...Earth to brat," he says. 

The look in Eren's face washes away and he fixes his gaze upon Levi. The soulless look to his eyes reminds Levi of Tiegan's eyes whenever he's sleepy. Levi figures out that Eren is simply drowsy and is slowly dozing off. 

"Yeah?" 

"I was about to ask you about the movie, but it looks like you're too tired to even drive. Do you want me to take you back to your home or do you want to sleep over in my place? If you're staying, I won't have a problem with preparing dinner for you, so don't worry," he says.

Eren tries his best to keep his eyes open, but his eyelids are trying their best to close up. 

"I want to stay in your place," Eren answers. 

With Eren as sleepy as he is, he didn't expect the answer and is immediately caught off guard. He ends up deciding for Eren instead.

"No, no, no. I don't think that can work. You don't have any extra clothes with you and you have to go to work tomorrow. You also need to take a shower because I can't have you sleeping around my house without being properly sanitized," he says, phrasing his sentence in a way that doesn't suggest his opposition towards the idea. 

Eren nods understandably, even though he might not have entirely. 

"Yeah. I wouldn't want to worry Mikasa too," he slowly responds, looking off to the distance. 

"We're gonna go home. Now. At this time, you won't be able to have enough time to properly sleep. And you need those sweet hours in order to function."

Eren rolls his eyes and bobs his head in a poor attempt to nod. 

"Yep. Thanks mom. To be honest, this is the latest I've stayed up for a really long time. I normally go to sleep at around nine, but now it's eleven," he struggles to say, slurring his words incoherently. 

Levi stares at Eren for a while, trying to make sense of the situation and figuring out what to do. Then, he snaps out and heads by Eren's side, draping the man's arm over his shoulder. 

"I can walk on my own. Don't worry. I think I can drive on my own as well," he likely mumbles. 

Levi looks at Eren as if he's crazy, but Eren is sinking to the point where he's hardly responsive.

"Eren, where are your keys?" 

Eren is suddenly aware of his surroundings and the situation at hand. This man is helping him out and they're at such close proximities, Eren can feel Levi's breath on his neck. It get's the attention of his dick, which is popping by in hopes of a wild party. 

Eren almost groans from the agony and the difficulty of walking increases exponentially. Thankfully enough, Levi thinks that Eren is already half asleep and unable to walk for himself and doesn't suspect Eren forming a boner whatsoever.

Without an answer, Levi finds Eren's car keys in his pocket. 

"Goddammit," Levi mutters. He wonders how Eren reacts under alcohol when he can barely handles himself like this. 

"How am I supposed to make it back to my house? I didn't think this through."

Eren continues to pretend he's half asleep. Levi decides to carry him bridal style over the stairs and continues to carry him until he reaches the car. The man struggles to unlock the car and open the door with one hand. Without helping him, Eren truly drifts back to semi-consciousness. It's cold tonight - not necessarily freezing - with the cicadas at full swing, even when they start dying off at this time of the year. They incessantly chirp their stupid song, and it sounds as a monotonous tone after listening to it for a long time. Levi curses them for being too damn annoying. He can't stand cicadas. 

The man gingerly places Eren in his seat and makes sure that he's sitting properly. He grabs the cold metal of the seatbelt and buckles him in. Then, he settles on the driver's seat, adjusting the mirrors so that he can properly see the road and he sets off. 

Eren manages to evade a horrific situation by miraculously convincing his boner that there's nothing out here for it to see. Then, as quickly as his boner had come and gone, he falls asleep during the ride in his car. 

Levi figures out Eren's address by looking inside the young man's phone. During the movie, he watched the idiot redo his password and remembers the new password he changed it to. 

He drives away from his home. 

* 

The brat's home isn't as far as Levi initially thought. When he arrives, Mikasa greets him cautiously. She's assuming that Levi and Eren are already in a relationship, and if they're not, she figures that they'll be in a relationship soon, so she plays the protective role that promises to kill Levi the instance he decides to break her brother's heart. After setting Eren down on the bed, she drives Levi back to his home. 

*

For the next couple of days, Eren and Levi exclusively communicate through text. Due to Levi's multiple jobs, opportunities to see each other are practically nonexistent. Eren is disappointed. Yes, he knows it's quite inconsiderate, but he isn't afraid of admitting it. At nights, however, he curls underneath the covers and holds his phone up to his face where it's light illuminates the entire area under the blanket, and he texts Levi. Sometimes, they text all night. Sometimes, Levi calls and sometimes, they talk all night. 

And Eren can't see Levi during the afternoons at all. Erwin is owning it up and is responsibly picking Tiegan up from daycare - not that it's a bad thing at all. On some good days, he's there for Tiegan at the right time and the young boy is overjoyed that he could leave at a normal hour with the other children. 

Today, however, Levi finally calls him. Of course, Eren answers the second he hears his phone ring. He's been dying to hear Levi's voice and dying even more that he can't see his face. 

"Hey, I'm free this afternoon. Wanna go on another date with me?"

"Where?" Eren asks, looking around to see if a co-worker is there to scold him. None is in sight. All of them are outside, busting their asses with a picnic they had planned for the children. 

"The park. It's gonna be nice and simple. We'll walk around, get to know each other, and ride a boat - unless you're really not into boats," he answers. 

Eren laughs at Levi's silliness. In the many nights that they've texted each other, Eren and Levi has grown used to their conversation styles and their reactions. 

"No, I'm into boats. Boats are alright. When?" 

"If Erwin isn't late, then when do you usually get off of work?" He asks. 

"Well, don't make it sound like you're not late either, because you're late every time you pick him up, but the daycare closes at 6:00. The boss is really impressed that I'm staying later than the rest of the staff to watch Tiegan, so if you're available at an early time, then I can ask him. He'll probably say yes."

"I wanna start our date at four. Do you think you'll be able to get off two hours early? I mean, I prefer if you don't get off of work for me at all. So if you can't, your boss is a shitty person. Just kidding. I'm gonna wait until six thirty, then."

"I don't like it when I make you wait that long."

"Just go ask him and call me back."

Eren hangs up and heads to his boss's office. Eren has barely seen him before, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he isn't involved in the affairs regarding the daycare. In his office, the daycare staff members are welcome anytime of any day. The boss is an old man with a sweet smile on his face. No, not the kind of senior that's debilitated with a hoarse voice. He's the kind that's still walking around to talk with everybody else. People will see him jogging around the neighborhoods. During one of the few times Eren's encountered the man, he smelled heavily of alcohol. 

The nameplate of the door says, 'Pixis'. 

It doesn't seem like he's there in the moment. Or perhaps he's asleep and passed out from all the alcohol he drinks. 

Eren stands in front, contemplating whether he should open the door or not. Normally, his assistant would stand out in front of the door and talk to people before they entered his office, but he's not there - most likely enjoying himself out in the picnic. In the end, he takes the handle in his hands and twists the door open. Much to Eren's surprise, he spots the old man sitting on his chair and bending over the table to do some paper work, more silent than a church mouse - not that it was ever a part of his his character to be this silent. In all the other times Eren has seen him, the man was loud and he constantly laughed at the jokes he'd make. 

At the sound of the door opening, the man looks up and pushes himself back with his fancy chair. He walks around the table to politely greet Eren, taking his hand with a smile. 

"Good afternoon, Mr. Pixis," Eren says. 

"Good afternoon to you too, Jaeger. You should have knocked on the door before opening it like that," he responds.

"I apologize," he says, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. 

The brunette blushes and trains his head downwards in hopes of concealing the redness in his cheeks. He congratulates himself for messing up his chances right away. Eren proceeds to think about the great impression he just have made upon that entrance, furthering his confidence. A hand pats on his head. 

"Don't worry about it, so what's in your mind lately? You're not out there in the picnic," he says. 

"I'm never out in the picnic, sir. I stay inside and clean their messes up, or at least, try my best to," Eren answers. 

"Oh alright. I don't know much about you, but I thought that you were the kind of person that wanted to isolate himself from everybody else, so I thought that might have been the reason why." 

The man's hand slips from Eren's head, allowing the brunette to lift his chin and meet the man in his kind eyes. Even now, he's still contemplating whether he should make the request for an early leave, or not. He thinks about the other instances where he's taken off of work and not a single scenario pops in his mind. Perhaps it is perfectly appropriate to ask for it after all. 

He opens his mouth, but words refuse to come until Eren decides. It's not that difficult of a decision to make, and it's certainly not too challenging to request for it either. Eren wills himself to say what he wants to say. 

"Sir, may I take off of work at four? I have to go somewhere today," says Eren, careful to not be too specific regarding his whereabouts. 

The man nods understandably. So far, so good. 

"Is it that important to you? Or? I'm just asking. This is the first time you've ever asked to leave early." The man says. 

With the mention of his fantastic attendance, he almost feel unhappy with breaking his impressive streak. Then again, it never mattered to him. 

"Somewhat."

Pixis looks out to the window and counts off the other caretakers outside. The man figures that it's still enough staff members to keep the children from burning the building down. He looks back at Eren. 

"Alright. I hope you have a good afternoon. Or you could chat it up with me before you go. You only have twenty minutes left until you leave and you don't want to join in the picnic. You can't just be alone down there, fixing up the room. That sounds so sad," he says. 

The tip's of Eren's eyebrow twitch. That last comment was totally unnecessary. It makes him feel worse about his life choices and it presents his tragic social life up to his face. He resists the urge to slap the old man in the face and smiles all of his bitterness away.

"No thank you," he kindly says, making sure that his smile is sweet enough for Pixis to understand that he's being condescending. The old man appears to be oblivious, thankfully. 

"I'm gonna go back to doing my job," he says. 

Pixis nods and smiles as Eren exits his room. Just as Eren closes the door, he stifles a laugh by placing a hand to his mouth. The old man got a kick out of messing with him a bit. Eren, on the other side of the door, silently rants. Since the encounter had spiked his bad mood, he thinks about fantastic comebacks in a situation where the man isn't his boss. Pixis also looked like he was conscious of what he was saying, and knew very well as to how Eren would react. 

'Ok, you're being over sensitive,' he thinks to himself before his mind moves into more poisonous thoughts. Eren focuses on the fact that he can go on the date with Levi, and eventually forgets about his irritating boss. 

Once Eren arrives downstairs, he dials Levi's number. 

"What did the old man say?" Levi asks. 

"He said I could get off at four."

"That's good."

"Bye."

"Alright, bye."

*

Finally, four o'clock comes by. Eren picks up his stuff, explains why he's leaving to his co-workers, and heads out of the daycare. Before he gets on the wheel, he calls Mikasa to inform her about the date he's having with Levi and that he'll be driving back home. Eren begins driving after the call ends. 

On the doorsteps of his house, Mikasa can be spotted waiting for him. She sits on the steps with a phone on her hand, listening to music and watching the cars pass by. It's a peaceful day and the birds chirp annoyingly with the sun scorching her skin, possibly giving her a sunburn. Nonetheless, she enjoys herself in the fine weather. Once Eren's car drives by, she watches him until it's fully parked in the driveway. 

Eren gets out of his car and heads to the front steps, pausing before he steps over his sister. He cranes his head and stares at her, giving her all the questions he has in mind.

"First of all, your skin is extra sensitive to the sun and you really like to complain about how hot it is when you're subjected to go out and do something in hot weather. Second of all, you're gonna get a bad sunburn and you know that. So what's wrong with you?" Eren ask, placing his hands to his hips. 

Mikasa shrugs her shoulders.

"Well, I thought about mother today. No, that's not what I mean. I think about mother everyday. It's just that I started overthinking it. A lot..." She trails off and looks to her brother, expecting an angry glare from him due to her mention of her mother, but much to her surprise, she faces a calm and collected Eren instead. Intently listening to her, he beckons for his sister to continue, sitting beside her. 

"And? What were you think about?" Eren asks. 

"Well, I was thinking...no...you know what? I'm just not gonna say it now. I'll tell you later. You're right. I'm gonna get a bad sunburn after hanging out in the sun like this. I don't like it at all," she says. 

Mikasa presses her hands to her thighs as she gets up. Then she slowly stretches herself backwards and a sting rips across her sunburnt skin. 

"But I wanna hear what you we're gonna say. You should tell me," Eren says. 

She said that she wanted to talk about their mother and now that Mikasa is finally speaking to him about it, she chooses to remain silent instead. It doesn't make sense and it frustrates Eren. 

Mikasa shakes her head. 

"Don't take it like that. I'll talk to you about it later, when I want to. I just don't want to talk about it now. Besides, you have to go on a date with Levi soon and he's gonna pick you up from here. Are you sure you want to look like that?" She asks. 

Eren narrows his eyes at his sister, a look filled with as much suspicion he can muster. Choosing to make fun of him was completely unnecessary and it further proves how much she wants to move from the subject. Eren sighs and drops the conversation, following Mikasa inside. 

In his house, he opens his phone to receive several texts from Levi, all of which are informing him that he's heading to his house to pick him up. Eren texts back and tells him that he's already at home and he's getting himself ready. 

After putting his phone down, he heads to his room and dresses himself up. Mikasa walks up the stairs to her room as well, and she turns on the tv. 

Eren rushes to open the door just as he hears Levi knocking. Levi stands with casual jeans and a black short-sleeved shirt, which is a step up from his usual outfits of choice. Eren wears a charming graphic tee with an illustration of a pug, a cardigan, and tight, faded-blue jeans. 

Mikasa steps out of her room to get a look at the two. She eyes Levi with a dark expression, the same one that threatened to gut him in any instant where he does something to break Eren's heart. The brother is completely oblivious to his sister's protectiveness, not that she expects him to be aware anyway. Eren looks his date up and down, marveling at the man's wonderful muscles. 

"I know, I know, I'm hot," he says. 

Eren shakes his head. 

"Not only that, but I also haven't seen you in a while," Eren adds. 

Levi is tempted to kiss the adorable brunette, but isn't so sure whether he should with Mikasa standing in front of them. Her stare, however, is probably more intimidating than his, sending trepidation down his spine. He takes that as a huge no and places his arm at the back of Eren's instead, leading him out. 

"Well, we're going now, Mikasa. See you later," Eren says, then whispering in a not-so-subtle way, "Wish me luck," in which Mikasa nods to with a smile. 

Eren steps inside Levi's car, sitting in the front seat. 

"You know, I have OCD. It's minor, but it's still there. When Tiegan told you that I probably didn't mind germs from you or Erwin, I did. Yeah, it's a pretty bad impression for a first date, but I want you to know so that you're more cautious when you're around me," he says. 

Eren nods his head understandably. 

"I got you. It wouldn't make sense that your mental disorder could just get fixed, or have symptoms exempted from just one person," Eren says.

Levi places both of his hands on the wheel and drives to the park. In the first couple minutes they sit in the car, they don't say anything and the silence gets to a point that it's incredibly awkward. Eren jabs his finger on one of the buttons, turning on the radio. 

"You listen to pop?" the brunette asks, turning to face the driver. 

"Are you judging me based on my taste in music? Or are you making that face because you didn't see me as the kind of person to listen to this genre?" 

Levi raises an eyebrow.

"None of the above, actually. I didn't think you were a music kind of person at all," Eren comments. 

Levi shrugs, understanding how Eren could see why. 

"My parents were both extremely musical. They travelled on the road and played in bars. Father was a guitar player and Mother was the singer. Mother also played the piano a bit. They were pretty good, just that they weren't very successful and they could hardly earn money from performing around the country. Nobody was really generous towards them," he says. 

"What kind of music did they play?" 

"Father was inspired by Journey. A lot. He also liked Aerosmith, Bread, Foreigner, and other rock bands that were huge hits back in the 80's and 70's. So he composed music that had a similar sound to them, kind of. Mother was really into R&B and soul and she was really good at doing these fancy things with her voice. You know Alicia Keys?" 

"I've heard of her, not necessarily listened to music."

"Well, she naturally had a raspy voice, but she could get it to smooth out, like what Alicia could do. She also really liked to listen to Vandross, Marvin Gaye, and Boys to Men. When Carey popped up, she was obsessed with her. Even with the difference in their singing styles, they tried to accommodate the other's and mainly performed together. Sorry. I'm talking on and on."

Eren shakes his head. 

"No. I think it's really cool that you have parents like that. Their lifestyle has this sense of freedom that I admire. I mean, my dad was a doctor and my mom was a teacher. They knew how important education was and they made sure I got it. Of course, I didn't like it and after I graduated from college, I came to this run down town that's not far from where I came from to just be free from it all. And I really like it so far,"Eren adds. 

"Why have we known each other for so long and not have known about our back stories?" Levi asks. 

Eren shrugs and leans on the window, looking out at the scenery. 

"Well, we never really got around the subject. Why did you choose to live here?" Eren asks. 

Levi sighs. It gives Eren a heads up that this is the unhappy part to his story. 

"I couldn't stand living with them. I didn't want to travel around the country and do music. That's not me. I want to be anchored somewhere and stay there. They also fought a lot. How they were able to stay together for so long? I don't know. Perhaps a miracle."

"So, with musical parents, I'm guessing that you have some musical talent, am I right?" Eren asks. 

"The only thing I was good at was songwriting. Mother didn't really know how to explain singing to me, or the piano. It came to her without even thinking about it. And it was always there, apparently. Father tried to teach me how to play the guitar, but I suck. And my fingers are too short. So I just wrote songs. Eventually, they performed them. With music in general, I suck."

"Oh. You should try singing one of them. I wanna hear what kind of songs you write."

"Maybe...let's just listen to the music in the car for now. I've been talking too much now," he says, ending the conversation there. 

As they arrive in the park, they notice people packing up to leave. The sky is already setting upon them, calling for night to come in a few more hours. Of course, the duo would have loved to choose a more ideal time of day to have the date, but they had no other choice.

The begin venturing out onto the trail. 

"So, what is your favorite genre of music?" Eren inquires. Levi has told his parents', but he never mentioned himself and probably never realized that he hadn't. 

"As long as it sounds good to me, I like it. I mean, I go from Nicki Minaj all the way over to Chopin's nocturnes," he answers. "This is starting to sound like an interview."

"I know. Now it's your turn to ask me a question."

"Alright. I'm not good at asking questions at all, so forgive me for this cheesy one...if you had to save the world by doing one of the two, would you go back in time and save the last dodo bird or would you kill your pet cat?" 

Eren totally did not expect any of that. What the hell did he mean cheesy? Eren could hardly consider that a question. Despite Levi's randomness or the fact that he doesn't have a pet cat, he plays along. 

"I would go back in time to save the last dodo bird. I can't just kill my pet cat."

Levi nods. 

They continue their silly conversation, walking along the park trail and enjoying themselves. Talking to each other face-to-face is an entirely different experience than talking to each other through the phone or texting up and reading messages. The sunlight filters through the leaves and twisting branches, leaving their surroundings sun-dappled. 

The two make it to a bench with the view of the entire park ahead of them. They sit down and rest, watching the sun bleed it's colors out to the sky and separate into bits of itself in the lake water. It can't get anymore beautiful. Even Levi's shit jokes add to the appeal of the scenery. 

"I really like this. I mean, the entire date, you, and how well this is going. It's very cheesy, but it's definitively not bad. I like it." 

Levi laughs the entire sentence out of his mouth. It's a new sound to Eren and he gets lost in the beauty of it rather than properly responding. He wants to record the sound of his laugh and repeat it for hours. When he finally processes what Levi said, he looks to him with an offended expression on his face, pressing a hand to his chest. 

"What the hell? How am I cheesy?" Eren demands an answer. 

Levi shakes his head and smiles. 

"No, you're not cheesy. My mistake. We're cheesy. This entire story of how we met sounds like something a fourteen year old would write in their fanfiction, cheesy. But I enjoy the cheesiness. I don't care," he says. 

Eren laughs at Levi's tiny confession. 

"That's fantastic. You've been more talkative since the last time I met you," Eren says.

Levi shrugs and the two continue staring at the wonderful sunset ahead of them. Rather than admiring the scenery before him, however, Eren marvels Levi's features instead, studying those long eyelashes and the way it falls onto his cheeks, the small, but sharp nose, structured like a statue, and his tiny lips, normally positioned into a frown. 

Of course, the man is conscious of Eren's staring, but he doesn't say anything about it and he continues looking on ahead. 

"Let's go," he says. 

Levi pushes himself out of the bench, standing up and dusting his butt. He holds out a hand for Eren to take. Suddenly, the atmosphere between them changes and it can be clearly felt between the both of them. Eren hopes that it doesn't mean something bad, but Levi has a good idea of what it might mean. 

Eren graciously takes it and smiles. 

"The canoeing closes in a couple minutes and if we don't get there in time, then we won't be able to go," he says. 

"Do you know where it is?" Eren asks, hoping that he hadn't just read the piece of information out of a piece of paper.

"Of course. I go here all the time," Levi says. 

Eren's smile widens and a distinct fire sparks in his eyes. They share an electric moment where Eren knowingly stares at the clueless Levi. He suddenly dashes along the park trail before Levi is able to say anything. 

"Then let's run over there," Eren says. 

The brunette's speed is pretty fast, but he's a fool if he thinks he can get ahead of Levi. He's built like an an athlete who's won a gold medal at the Olympics. Levi playfully springs towards Eren, a slight smirk across his lips. It's been a while since he's played tag with someone - better yet, enjoyed himself. At the growing sound of Levi's agile footsteps, Eren's fear level rises like those people in horror movies. 

Eren has to remind himself that he's simply playing around before he gets carried away and screams hysterically. Levi is getting too close for comfort. Unfortunately for the brunette, Levi catches up and wraps his arms around his waist. Eren squeals and laughs. He tries to separate Levi's arms in an attempt to escape, but Levi's grip is solid. 

"I didn't think that this was gonna be a race," he says, trying to keep a straight a face. 

Levi looks at Eren and he cocks an eyebrow. Eren looks away, hiding the blush that takes form on his cheeks. 

"Hey you should look at me, brat." 

"Don't call me a brat," is Eren's shaky response, calling forth more trouble ahead of him. 

Levi decides to test his theory of Eren being ticklish and he begins slipping his fingers on his lower belly, tickling him. Finding out would be quite advantageous, seeing that being tickling is a huge weakness. 

Eren bursts into laughing, the hands wrapped around Levi's wrist putting more effort into separating them from him. His voice can be heard throughout the entire park and Levi fears that someone nearby would mistake this as something serious. 

"Stop, oh my god. You're gonna kill me. Let go of me, Levi."

Eren struggles to say the words. The laughter robs his lungs of air, the same air that's needed for him to speak coherently. 

Levi continues tickling him, not even sparing him a bit of mercy. 

"What? What did you say?" He asks. 

The man was hoping that Eren is ticklish, yes, but he didn't think that the brunette would react this strongly. 

Watching Eren makes him laugh as well. Words can't describe what this phenomenon is, where someone's laugh is so infectious, a person can't help but laugh along. This side of Eren is too adorable for him to contain in his system. 

"Levi. Let go of me. We're gonna-"

Eren's balance shifts forwards and the two fall to the ground. Levi manages too keep his body from slamming onto Eren's, planting both his arms on the dirt and his legs bent on the ground. Unfortunately, Eren had fallen face first. After relishing in the pain for a good moment of two, he grumbles and turns himself around, facing Levi. Traces of the good laugh they had can be seen in Levi's tiny smile. Eren smiles back. 

The arrangement that they had gotten themselves into is heavily associated with a sex position that's virtually impossible for them to ignore. They stare into each other for a long time, the same sentence written in the sparks of their eyes, "this just got really weird." 

Eren opens his mouth to say something, but he closes it and binds his words at the back of his tongue. He calms himself down for a couple seconds and steadies his racing heartbeat. This moment only calls for actions, words would only ruin it. 

Then, he cups Levi's cheeks in his hands, and he pulls him close. Levi goes along with the movements, shutting his eyes and leaning forward until their lips press against each other. In the sweet kiss, Eren slides his fingers underneath Levi's soft locks. He gently clenches his hands into a fist, pulling Levi closer than ever. 

Eren never felt Levi's lips, or his hair before, but he never thought that Levi's sweet body was the one thing he was desperately craving since the day they had met. He softly bite's Levi's lower lips before continuing the kiss, eliciting a soft moan. Eren can feel his penis springing to life, craving more and more. He never thought he was capable of wanting someone to the point that it hurts. 

Levi pulls away and looks Eren deep in the eyes, a breathless look to his face. It seems to be too much for him to take in. They were walking on the park, they fell on top of each other, and now, they're making out. The escalation of the events is still processing in his mind and it renders him speechless for several moments. 

"You know, I want you and I want you now," he softly whispers, his chest rising and falling. 

Eren nods and breathes out a light laugh, trailing his gaze from Levi's lips to his eyes.

"I want you too, and I never thought I'd ever feel like this...especially towards a person like you."

Levi raises an eyebrow, a shocked expression on his face. He tilts his head to the side and leans unbearably close towards Eren. It physically hurts the brunette when Levi stops just as he's about to kiss him. He can feel Levi's hot breath on his lips. 

"Why do you think so?" Levi asks with a low voice and at this point, his boner is begging to be satisfied. 

"Because...it's just you. Dammit, Levi Ackerman."

Levi chuckles and pulls away. He looks down at Eren, who's arms are spread to both sides. He has this flustered expression that also happens to be lost within the daze in his eyes and he manages to make the look incredibly seductive. Levi swallows. 

"What kind of response is that?" He asks. 

"A reasonable one. I highly doubt you expected to make out with this uptight brunette back when we first encountered each other at the bar," Eren says. 

Levi shrugs. "I entertained the idea of it," he says. 

Eren lifts his head from the floor and widens his eyes, his mouth ajar. He can't believe Levi just said what he just said. Levi probably didn't mean to say that to him and the words most-likely slipped out of his mouth due to being lost in the moment. 

"What the do you mean you entertained the idea of it? Did you even mean to say that?" Eren asks, flabbergasted. 

He laughs at the thought of it, not because it's funny, but because it's nearly impossible for Eren to visualize Levi thinking such thoughts. Then again, he never knows what goes on behind his curtained expressions. Levi, however, doesn't falter, nor does he show any signs of regret for what he just said. 

"I mean it. And yes, I did. Look at you, look at your face. Who wouldn't imagine making out with a guy like you?" 

Eren would be flattered if it weren't for the fact that Levi sounded incredibly sarcastic as he spoke. His expression deadens to show Levi that he wants real answers. 

"Levi, I know you're being sarcastic. Did you really think about kissing me before today?" Eren asks, meaning business this time. 

Levi rolls his eyes and stares at him with as much seriousness as he can muster, which is as nonexistent as their possibility of being able to canoe at this point. 

"Yes. I did, but I did suspect that you didn't have a girlfriend because of your unbearable personality." 

Eren laughs and covers his eyes with the back of his hand. At times, this man is can be too much for Eren to handle. 

"Alright, alright. I don't blame you for thinking that. I do have an unbearable personality," Eren admits. 

"Glad we can agree on something."

"Yeah, now get off of me, you bafoon."

Eren lifts himself up. It's about time they get off of the ground. What if children are still running about the park, and they run into them while they're on top of each other? That would be way too awkward trying to explain themselves. Besides, Eren's ass has been killing him and he was lying down on some pebble that bothered him. Levi complies and stands up, patting the dirt out of his pants. 

"Do you think we'll still be able to make it?" Eren asks. 

"Make it to what?" Levi asks, tilting his head to the left. 

He already forgot. The memory of it surely got lost when they were entangled in each other's lips. Eren can't help but smile when he looks back on their kiss, but he quickly wipes it off as he rolls his eyes. 

"To canoeing. We were gonna go canoeing," Eren reminds him. 

"Oh, then we're not gonna be able to make it."

Levi shrugs and awkwardly stands there, looking at Eren. A silly kind of quiescence follows. By simply staring at each other, they find themselves laughing. Nothing humorous even occurred. It's just hat they can't help themselves. 

"So, what now?" Eren asks, raising his hands. 

"We can come over to my place, watch another movie, though it would have been a waste of time for us to come over here," says Levi as he bobs his head to the direction where the canoes were located, "I mean, I originally planned for us to canoe. I didn't just invite you here to walk and talk in the trail here, you know."

Eren blushes. Come over to his house? Aren't things a little more different between them? They were literally on top of each other seconds ago, making out with each other after falling to the ground. It's not that Eren doesn't want to, but there's still a hint of hesitation in his mind. He's always been a little hesitant to fall in love with people, or to the subject of romance in general. 

The brunette shyly nods before smiling. 

"Sure, we can watch another movie," he says. 

They begin walking back to the parking lot, talking about something else in order to get their minds off of what they're truly thinking. There are many things that could occur back in Levi's place and they're neither excited or dreading for the time to come.

*

The neighborhood is just as quiet as it was the last time Eren visited, and that was during after hours. If not, then it's even more silent, as if someone came in and sucked up all the noise that could possibly exist in the area with their vacuum cleaner.. Eren understands that the landlord is in the midst of a financial crisis and nobody wants to live in here, but he wonders if Levi is just as creeped out by the silence than he is. 

Eren eventually stops spacing out, lifting his chin out of the palm of his hand when they come to a stop, parking in front of Levi's apartment. 

"Why are you so tense?" Levi asks. 

Eren is startled by the question. He wasn't aware that he appeared to be so tense. 

"I just...I don't know. I'm...I...see I can't even speak properly...I'm... A lot of things, like I'm excited and scared, but mainly excited. Then, I'm also confused because I'm not really sure what I feel right now. I don't know a lot of things, ok? I'm just...ugh...I'm nervous. There, I said it," he says. 

By the end of Eren's struggle, Levi is shooting him a funny look. He opens the car door and steps out with Levi. In front of him, the raven-haired man audibly sighs. 

"What's wrong with you?" Eren asks. Levi pauses mid-step and turns around to face the green-eyes man. 

"Well, I'm just glad that I wasn't the only one feeling the tension. I'm...yeah, I'm nervous too," he admits, immediately regretting to say those words. He can't tell whether he ruined the mood or he helped Eren ease up a bit. When he looks to the brunette, he sees that he appears to be a lot more calm than he was in the car. 

The two head inside his apartment complex and Eren places his shoes beside the door. Levi begins stripping in front of Eren, and the surprised young man shields himself from the sight of his marvelous body before he could get excited. The man is standing in front of Eren, shirtless and in the process of taking off his pants as well. 

"Oh my god, can you please change in your room?" Eren demands, attempting to hide his blush as well. 

When Levi looks at Eren with his hands covering his eyes, he finally realizes his mistake. The man rolls his eyes. 

"It's not like you've seen shirtless guys before, c'mon Jaeger."

"By why would you change in front of me like that?" Eren argues. 

"Because the hamper is right over there. I bet you have the same habit of stripping once you're inside your house, right? The same goes for me."

"But...you're shirtless...in front of me," Eren doesn't know how to counter Levi's point. The man's stunning physique takes his breath away. It's not like Eren could complain, but it would be nice if Levi is changing inside his room. 

"Wanna touch my abs?" Levi asks. 

Eren removes his hands from his face, looking at the man incredulously. Did he hear him correctly? Now that his eyes are upon the man's body, he finds himself subconsciously staring at him and not being able to tear his eyes away - even when he wants to. 

"What!?" 

Eren studies the abs Levi was referring to. He's never seen his bare abs before, only imagined what they would look like from the many times that Eren could see their shape through Levi's shirts. Yes, he's seen abs before and yes, he's seen a shirtless man before, just that he's never seen one in real life - other than himself, of course. 

"I can see you drooling over them, you know. Go ahead, touch my abs. Run your fingers through me. I do pride myself upon them," he says. 

"I don't think the real Levi would be willing to let me touch his abs. It's a little out-of-character," Eren suspiciously points out. 

"Are you seriously rejecting the opportunity to touch my abs? Admit it, brat. In the days following after we met, you've fantasized about my abs at least once," he says. 

Eren crosses his arms in front of him and scoffs. 

"Oh please. You have a fantastic body, yes. But you're starting to get ahead of yourself," Eren says. "I have fantasized about your abs several times, though. I'll give you that."

Levi victoriously smiles and slips another shirt on, covering his wonderful abs from Eren's eyes. However, he holds the edge of his shirt upwards to hint that Eren can still hope to touch upon his body, showcasing the tiniest preview of his sexy v line. Eren's stare lingers around the area for a second too long, erasing his ability to hide the fact that he was checking Levi out. 

Eren can't stand it anymore. He decides to surrender to Levi. He frowns and allows his blush to run rampage in his cheeks, bearing with Levi being able to clearly see the tomato face that he's become. It's humiliating, but he's been tempted way past his physical and mental limits. 

"Ok! Ok! I'm gonna touch your abs, but I'm just gonna my run my fingers through them. Oh my god, I can't believe I'm doing this."

Levi smirks as he nears Eren, lifting his shirt to show Eren that the opportunity has opened back to him. 

"Say what you want to say. Once you start touching, you can never stop. Doesn't matter, though. Since you're Eren, you're allowed to touch me as much as you want," he says. 

There's so much sexual tension in the air, there would be enough material for someone to slice through. It gets to a point where the only thing Eren can hear is his uncontrollable heartbeat. Levi remains calm, but he's anticipating Eren's touch, and is growing more impatient as Eren continues to stall. 

Eren's fingers finally brush upon Levi's abs, leaving fire in it's wake. 

"This feels weird," says Eren. 

"Well, we're both weird."

Eren rolls his eyes smiles. Yes, he's well aware of that fact, but maybe this interaction is too intimate, maybe they're moving a little too quickly. Doubts still cloud his mind and it's ruining the moment. Then he thinks, 'Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm still afraid.' He looks at Levi to see his reaction, and in the sparks of his eyes, Eren can see amusement and lust. It fuels Eren's confidence to make him do the unthinkable. 

He plants a kiss on Levi's left hip, right where his pants border his torso and his lower body. Levi hadn't seen it coming, nor did he expect Eren to make such a bold move. The surprising move sends shivers down his spine. 

"You sneaky little brat," he says. 

Instead of pulling his shirt down, he pulls it back up and takes it all off. Once again, Eren is facing a shirtless Levi. Eren smiles and continues kissing his torso, leading the trail up to his chest, on his neck, and onto Levi's chin.

"We're doing this backwards," Eren chuckles. 

Somehow, his feelings towards Levi being shirtless changes once he knows that he can touch him the way he wants to. He knows that he can't control himself at the face of a person as beautiful as Levi, and he's reluctant to doing things with him when there's no consent from his part. He feels like a monster. After all, he can't control himself at the lacking presence of something as mere as Levi's shirt. 

Levi takes Eren's face in his hands and he pulls the brunette in for a kiss. Eren has to crane his head downwards so that he can touch Levi's lips and the height difference bothers the shorter one greatly. It causes him to kiss more aggressively. 

The kiss becomes more heated, nothing like the kiss they shared when they were with each other at the park. After a while, Eren pulls away from Levi, breathless. Levi looks at Eren's lips, red and wet from the way he had sucked on them. 

"I didn't think you were capable of kissing me like this," Levi breathes out. The hotness spreads all the way to his penis and Eren fears that his boner will make a second appearance. 

Eren doesn't respond, hungrily leaning in for another kiss. He wants more and can't stand the fact that he has to wait before he can have a taste. His boner is aching, his heart is hammering out of his chest, and his mind is yearning for clarity in this clouded haze it happened to sail itself into. 

For the second time today, Levi stops the kiss before their lips manage to touch. He places a stopping finger between him and Eren, snapping him back into reality. Eren had never been at this level of sexual frustration in his entire life.

"Hold on a second. Before we can go any further, we have to take this to my bedroom, alright?" 

Despite his inability to think reasonably at this point, he forces himself to nod through the frustration, the pain of his boner, and his powerful need for action. 

Levi leads Eren to his room. Closing the door and shutting out all the light from the hallways, they continue in he darkness.

*

It's the morning following the exciting night where they released all the feelings they had for each other. They hadn't realized that they'd pent up so much, so they sure as hell had a smashing time on the bed - thrusting themselves into each other, recklessly sucking their cocks off, and realizing that they're more in love with the other person than they initially thought. 

Eren lies underneath the covers in the aftermath, his eyes still tightly shut. Levi had awakened thirty minutes ago and is now preparing himself for the day, his breakfast as well as Eren's. He also noticed that they weren't able to watch a Disney movie as promised, so he played Pocahontas in his room to make up for what happened. 

When Levi returns to his room, Eren is still asleep on his bed. The time on his digital watch tells him that he better get his ass out of the house if he wants to arrive on time. Levi tries his best to think up of better alternative ways to approach the situation, but both of his friends can't can't be contacted and he doesn't know when Eren starts for his job as well. He has no choice but to forcefully wake up his partner. 

Levi rips away the blanket that Eren is tightly curled into. He places his hands onto Eren's body, giving it a firm shake. 

The morning feels more pleasant when there's someone to spend it with, and he wishes that he could have more time than the little amount he has now. He doesn't want to wake Eren at such an early hour, but it pains him that he has to. 

The brunette turns around and his eyes slowly open. He grumbles under his breath as he focuses on Levi, fully dressed for work. 

"What? Are you leaving already?" Eren asks. His body aches from yesterday. An average male takes days of preparation before can be penetrated. Eren, however, jumps right in the game and the two were able to have enjoyable anal sex. 

"Yes." Levi looks incredibly apologetic and the least he wants is for Eren to understand him. 

Eren smiles and pats him on the head. 

"Does that mean that I have to leave as well?" Eren asks. 

"No, you can stay right here. Just call Mikasa or Armin over when you need to leave. Breakfast is in the kitchen, so please take the time to eat it. When you leave, make sure everything is turned off and the door is locked, got that?" 

Eren nods, but he's disappointed that he isn't able to spend more time with him. 

"Alright. Good luck in work," he says, trying his best to mask his despondent tone. His voice cracks and he mentally scolds himself for being so damn transparent. It's as if all his feelings are written on his forehead. 

Levi sees through it all and it physically hurts him that he can't do anything about it. 

"I'm sorry. I love you. I'll come over to your house tonight. For now, I have to go. Good bye," he says. 

Eren grabs Levi's sleeve just before he leaves his side. Levi turns around to face his boyfriend. 

"I love you too," Eren says. 

A slight smile can be seen on Levi's face. He nods before he heads out. Eren can hear the sound of his car driving away. 

*

"What are you doing here?" Mikasa coldly asks, placing one hand to her hip. 

The two were having a pleasant time eating dinner when Levi interrupted. Mikasa is glad that Eren is in relationship with someone, but she's also unhappy at the fact that this man, the one cluelessly scratching the back of his head and standing before her, is stealing her brother away. Her behavior embarrasses Eren and he's silently sending apologies while he stands behind her. Soon enough, she'll be able to maturely handle her feelings - just not now. 

"I'm here to pay a visit. I told I was going to this morning."

"You had him all night. It's my turn," Mikasa fires back. 

Eren cuts in before she continues, standing between his sister and his boyfriend. 

"Alright, Mikasa. Let's go back to eating dinner. Levi, you come on in. Wait here while we finish. But while we have our visitor, we need to treat each other respectfully." Eren demands. 

For the sake of her brother, Mikasa simmers herself down, taking deep breaths before storming out of the scene. 

"She's mad that you let her in," says Levi, stepping inside. 

Mikasa's greeting was quite welcoming. It truly adds confidence to the steps he makes inside Eren's home. 

Levi shakes his head. 

No, it actually doesn't, but he wants to say that he isn't affected by her attitude towards him. Eren pats his boyfriend on the back.

"Don't worry about her. She's just angry that she finished all seasons of whatever Netflix series she was watching. She gets like this all the time," he says.

He knows that she normally doesn't take her anger out on people, especially on someone who is uninvolved in the affair, but he can't help himself from lying to make Levi feel a little better about it.

Levi can see through Eren's lie and Eren zips his mouth to keep himself from saying anything more. 

"Jesus Christ, Eren. You're just increasing the tension in here. After we eat, let's hang out back and talk. Don't think that I'm gonna get all depressed just because your sister doesn't approve of me. I'll just wait here until you finish, alright?" 

Eren relaxes himself a bit and sits Levi down on the couch, turning on the tv for him to watch. The house is quite small, but it's definitely better than Levi's apartment. At least it has space between the other houses. It gives them the availability to invite friends over and enjoy themselves for a good night. 

After two to three minutes, Eren walks back inside the living room. They go outside where the skies are already stained by night. Afternoon can only be seen on the edges of the aerial horizon. The battling oranges, pinks, and purples, are losing to the vast collection of stars that sits in the darkness of space. 

The grass isn't as well maintained in comparison to the other yards in the neighborhoods. It stalks up to Levi's knees and it makes him feel shorter than he already is. A wind combs through the tiny meadow and it causes the grass to gently whip against their legs. Eren and Levi settle upon a spot and they sit down. 

Silence sits along with them like a guest invited in their party. 

"Hey, Eren."

"Hmmm?"

"I'm worried about Erwin."

The sudden mention of the subject catches the brunette's attention. 

"Why?"

"He's been overworking himself. He would make it to my place, barely able to keep himself upright. I wouldn't let him drive back. Can't let him. He wouldn't be able to make it without falling asleep on the wheel."

Eren nods to show Levi that he's listening. 

"I worry about Tiegan. He already lost his mother. Picking the kid up and being there for him when his father isn't is the best I can do for him. Damn it, I'm attached to that kid. He puts on a smile for his father, but I've heard him cry himself to sleep more than once. I don't know what to do." 

The two fall into silence. Eren doesn't know what to say, and it doesn't exactly sound like Levi's asking him for advice either. He's afraid that he might say the wrong thing. As for Levi, it hurts him to continue talking. 

"Things will play out over time," Eren finally says. 

Eren feels like shit because he said it for himself. A memory of his mother played out while he said his line. He pulls his knees close to his chest and he wraps his arms around them, burying his face inside. It brought out all the hideous feelings that had been building up inside of him, and instead of pushing them away, he accepts them. 

"What's up with you?" Levi asks. 

Eren figures that he's given the concerning topic of Erwin a respectable amount of silence, so he opens his mouth to speak. However, words don't make it to his lips. It never does. Instead, tears form on his eyes and slip down his cheeks. He wipes them away and smiles, but it doesn't work. 

"Can I tell you something?" He asks wit a quivering voice. 

"Go ahead."

"My mother died when I was little...but I'm still not over it. The thought of her still hurts as much as it did when they lowered her casket in her funeral. I'm so pathetic."

Levi smiles forlornly. 

"You're not. Different people have different ways of dealing with their pain."

Eren shakes his head.

"I tried not thinking about her. No, I tried erasing the memory of her...so that I couldn't hurt anymore...but I was just running away. Mikasa's right. She's always been, dammit."

He didn't think he would cry so much. The back of his hand that he uses to wipe his cheeks is covered with a disgusting layer of his tears. Eren attempts to laugh in order to lighten the mood, but it ends the same as all the other times he's attempted to hide his sorrows, it doesn't work. 

"You're gonna make it through this, you brat."

Eren nods and sniffs. 

"Don't call me that at a time like this," Eren scolds. He hasn't heard that nickname in a long time. He hates how it reminds him of those bittersweet moments. He hates how he it easily rolled of his tongue. He hates how there's a slight sense of comfort to it, and most of all, he hates how it's cheering him up. 

Levi's lips twitch into a smile. 

"Brat."

**Author's Note:**

> Did I end it too suddenly? Yes. Did the sad ending call for some sort of...closing? Yes, but I highly doubt anyone would ever take time to read this fic, one shot, whatever this is. Should I have divided this into chapters? Perhaps. Do I regret not dividing this into chapters? No. 
> 
> If someone does manage to make it through this, thank you for your time.


End file.
